Cheney Shoots Lawyer in Hunt Accident

Never sneak up behind Dick Cheney when he has a gun in his hand. That is the painful lesson learned by Texas lawyer Harry Whittington, 78, in a hunting accident at the weekend.

Mr Whittington, the United States vice-president, and a third person went quail shooting on Saturday at one of the grandest ranches in Texas.

While Mr Cheney and the third man laid in wait for the quail, Mr Whittington approached them from behind without signaling his presence. Just then the quail were flushed out.

The owner of the ranch, Katharine Armstrong, witnessed the incident.

"The vice-president didn’t see him," she told the Associated Press news agency. "He picked out a bird and shot and, my God, Harry was in the line of fire and got peppered pretty good.

"It broke the skin," she said. "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."

Mrs Armstrong added that these things happen "from time to time - you know, I’ve been peppered pretty well myself".

Fortunately for Mr Whittington, a millionaire lawyer from Austin, the vice-president’s medical team, on permanent call due to his sometimes fragile physical condition, were nearby.

"Fortunately, the vice-president has got a lot of medical people round him and they were right there," Mrs Armstrong said.

"He has an ambulance permanently on call and it came immediately."

Although the incident occurred at 5.30pm, Mr Whittington was not admitted to the nearby Corpus Christi Memorial hospital until 8.15pm. He was treated for birdshot injuries to the neck, chest and face, and was said to be in good condition and good spirits.

Yesterday, he was visited by Mr Cheney at the hospital.

Mr Cheney is an avid hunter who makes annual trips to South Dakota to hunt pheasants and to Arkansas to hunt ducks.