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US VP accidentally shoots fellow hunter
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-13 06:45
Whittington has been a private practice attorney in Austin since 1950 and has
long been active in Texas Republican politics. He's been appointed to several
state boards, including when then-Gov. George W. Bush named him to the Texas
Funeral Service Commission.
Whittington owns property in Travis County worth at least $11 million, the
Austin American-Statesman reported last year, not counting a downtown block at
the center of a long-running dispute with the city over a condemnation issue.
Armstrong, owner of the Armstrong Ranch where the accident occurred, said
Whittington was bleeding and Cheney was very apologetic.
"It broke the skin," she said of the shotgun pellets. "It knocked him silly.
But he was fine. He was talking. His eyes were open. It didn't get in his eyes
or anything like that."
"Fortunately, the vice president has got a lot of medical people around him
and so they were right there and probably more cautious than we would have
been," she said. "The vice president has got an ambulance on call, so the
ambulance came."
Cheney is an avid hunter who makes annual hunting trips to South Dakota to
hunt pheasants. He also travels frequently to Arkansas to hunt ducks.
Armstrong said Cheney is a longtime friend who comes to the ranch to hunt
about once a year and is "a very safe sportsman." She said Whittington is a
regular, too, but she thought it was the first time the two men hunted together.
"This is something that happens from time to time. You now, I've been
peppered pretty well myself," said Armstrong.
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