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Statements of Witnesses to Cheney-Whittington Shooting Released

Cheneywhittington Courtesy of The Smoking Gun, six eyewitness accounts to Dick Cheney's accidental shooting of Harry Whittington on February 11, given to the Kenedy County, Texas Sheriff's office have been released to the public.

The witnesses were ranch owners Katharine Armstrong and Sarita Armstrong Hixon, Ambassador Pamela Willeford, and ranch workers Oscar Medellin, Gerardo Medellin, and Michael Hubert.

Contrary to many press accounts, there are no inconsistencies in the statements as to the role of alcohol in the incident.

Katharine Armstrong:
"...to the best of my knowledge there was no alcohol involved."

Pamela Willeford:
"There was no alcohol consumed during the afternoon of the hunt in the field.  I did consume a glass of wine at lunch, approximately 4-4 ½ hours earlier."

Sarita Hixon:
"To my knowledge none of the members of my shooting group the afternoon of February 11, 2006 at Armstrong Ranch consumed any alcoholic beverage. ... To the best of my knowledge, alcohol was not a factor in the accidental shooting of Mr. Whittington."

Harry_1 The accounts also back up the chronology and situational account we've already heard as to what precipitated the actual shooting - namely that none of the others nearby heard Mr. Whittington announce he was advancing toward other hunters, and that another shooter alongside Cheney (Ambassador Willeford) nearly took aim on Whittington in pursuit of the same bird the Vice President was firing on.  From Willeford's statement:

As I turned to my right to follow the flight of the bird, and at the same time that the Vice President was aiming and firing, I spotted Mr. Whittington in our field of sight.  Neither the Vice President nor I realized he had left his former position behind us and was now about 30 yards to the right (west) and slightly below us.  Mr. Whittington was hit by the Vice President’s shot and immediately fell to the ground.

I'm going to feel like a dope if this already exists elsewhere on the web, but I've taken the liberty of transcribing the images of the typed and handwritten statements, as well as the final incident reports from Sheriff Salinas and Deputy San Miguel, all of which are available as plain text in the extended entry and as Word documents below:

Previously:
Harry Whittington Speaks, Liberal Deathwatch Dismayed
Hex on Valdez
Distressing Development
There Just Has To Be a Scandal In Here Somewhere
"Something Bit Me!"

Katharine Armstrong

I, Kate Armstrong, am one of the owners of the Armstrong Ranch in Kenedy County, Texas and was present and an eye witness to the hunting accident that occurred on Feb. 12th, at approximately 5:30pm in the Comal pasture of the Armstrong Ranch.  Although it was late in the afternoon and the sun was low, there was plenty of sunlight.  All three shooters were wearing blaze orange gear and to the best of my knowledge there was no alcohol involved.

After being alerted by an outride our hunting vehicle pulled up to the location where a covey of quail had been found.  When the Vice President, Harry Whittington and Pam Willeford got out of the vehicle to work the covey they were told that there was a second covey ahead and to the left.  They moved forward on the first covey and Mr. Whittington shot two birds that fell to his right in some tall grass and brush.  Mr. Whittington, with the assistance of Gerry Medellin and a Labrador went to the spot where the birds and [sic] fallen to find them.  The two men and the dog had difficulty finding one of the birds and spent several minutes attempting to find it in the tall grass.  While MR. Whittington stayed behind to look for his bird, the Vice President and Ambassador Willeford moved towards the second covey that was located further ahead and to the left of the first covey.  In the meantime, Mr. Whittington returned briefly to the car then went back to look again for his lost bird.  A short time later I noticed that Harry was moving forward to rejoin the Vice President and Ambassador Willeford.  As he was moving forward I did not hear him announce himself or call to them to let them know he was approaching from behind and to their right.  A single bird flushed in front of the Vice President and Ambassador Willeford.  The Vice President swung through to his right and shot at the bird.  Mr. Whittington fell to the ground about 30 yards away from the Vice President with his head facing towards the hunting vehicle.  I saw the Vice President rush towards Mr. Whittington and almost in the same instant the Vice President’s security detail was rushing to his side as well.  My sister, Sarita Hixon, Ambassador Willeford and I remained out of the way a short distance from Mr. Whittington until the ambulance arrived about 20 to 25 minutes later.

Katharine Armstrong
Feb 15, 2006

Pamela Willeford

Pamela P. Willeford
[Redacted]
Austin, TX 78703
512-[Redacted]

To:        Chief Deputy Gilbert Sanmiguel, Jr.
From:        Pamela Willeford
Date:         February 15, 2006
RE:        Statement on hunting accident of 2/11/06

I, Pamela Willeford, of [redacted], Austin, TX 78703, provide the following information regarding the hunting accident on the Armstrong Ranch on February 11, 2006.

I was a member of a group hunting quail on Saturday afternoon, February 11, 2006, at the Armstrong Ranch.  Included in the group were Katharine Armstrong, Sarita Hixon, Harry Whittington, Vice President Dick Cheney, and myself.  The hunting vehicle was driven by a staff member from the Armstrong Ranch; other vehicles included dog handlers and members of the Vice President’s group (security detail and others).

At approximately 5:30 p.m., the Vice President, Mr. Whittington and I left the vehicle to shoot a covey of quail that had been spotted by the outrider.  A second covey was also spotted to the left of our position.  Katharine Armstrong and Sarita Hixon remained in the vehicle so that there were three hunters “on the ground.”  I was on the left, the Vice President was in the center, and Mr. Whittington was on the right.  We flushed the first covey, and Mr. Whittington shot twice and killed two birds.  He stopped to pick up his birds and spent several minutes looking, as the second bird was difficult to find.

The Vice President and I watched him for a few seconds and decided to proceed to the second covey.  We turned left about 90 degrees and proceeded forward; I was on the left with Mr. Cheney on the right.  Mr. Whittington was directly behind us at that time.

We walked forward, and a bird flushed in front of the Vice President and flew to our right.  We both raised our guns, but I did not fire as the bird flew away from me.  As I turned to my right to follow the flight of the bird, and at the same time that the Vice President was aiming and firing, I spotted Mr. Whittington in our field of sight.  Neither the Vice President nor I realized he had left his former position behind us and was now about 30 yards to the right (west) and slightly below us.  Mr. Whittington was hit by the Vice President’s shot and immediately fell to the ground.  The Vice President rushed to Mr. Whittington’s position; at the same time medical personnel came to his aid.  From my position, I could see that Mr. Whittington was moving his arm and leg while on the ground.  We remained in the field until the ambulance arrived and took Mr. Whittington away to the hospital.

There was no alcohol consumed during the afternoon of the hunt in the field.  I did consume a glass of wine at lunch, approximately 4-4 ½ hours earlier.

Pamela P. Willeford
2/15/06

Sarita Hixon

My name is Sarita Armstrong Hixon.  I am one of the owners of the Armstrong Ranch in Kenedy County.  I also have a home at [redacted], Houston, TX 77027.  I was quail hunting at the Armstrong Ranch the afternoon of February 11, 2006 and was an eye-witness to the shooting of Harry Whittington on that date.

At about 5:30 p.m. the hunting car my group was riding in stopped near a covey of quail which had been located by the out-rider, Oscar Medellin.  Those present in the car were Gerry Medellin, the driver, Vice President Richard Cheney, Ambassador Pam Willeford, Katharine Armstrong, Harry Whittington and myself.  We decided that the shooters on the covey would be Vice President Cheney, Ambassador Willeford and Mr. Whittington.  The three shooters approached the covey, it flushed and Mr. Whittington shot two times, hitting two birds.  Both birds fell near some mesquite trees in tall grass ahead and to the right of the car.  Mr. Whittington and Gerry Medellin walked to where the two birds fell and began searching for the quail with a Labrador dog.  They had trouble finding the birds in the tall grass and continued searching for them at least five or more minutes.  At one point Mr. Whittington walked back to the car and I congratulated him on his “double”.  He then rejoined Gerry Medellin searching for the missing, downed bird in the tall grass.

Shortly after the first covey flushed, a second covey was located by the bird dog (pointer) up ahead and to the left of the car.  While Mr. Whittington and Gerry Medellin started searching for Mr. Whittington’s two quail, Ambassador Willeford and Vice President Cheney walked ahead to shoot the second covey located by the pointer.  Ambassador Willeford was on the left and Vice President Cheney was on the right as they approached the second covey. Before they flushed the second covey, Mr. Whittington started walking towards them from where he and Gerry Medellin had been searching for his quail.

He Mr. Whittington approached the shooters from behind and to their right with the sun behind him.  I did not hear him call out to warn the shooters of his approach.  Mr. Whittington appeared to be about 30 yards from the shooters when a quail flushed near the shooters and flew in Mr. Whittington’s direction.  The shooters swung their shotguns following the bird, I heard a shot and saw MR. Whittington fall to the ground.  I learned a few minutes later that the Vice President had fired the shot.  Katharine Armstrong and I were both in the hunting car when I witnessed the shooting.  I would estimate the time to have been between 5:45 and 6:00 p.m.

Sarita Armstrong Hixon
2/15/06

My name is Sarita Armstrong Hixon.  I would like to supplement the written witness statement I submitted earlier today to the Kenedy County Sheriff’s office.  To my knowledge none of the members of my shooting group the afternoon of February 11, 2006 at Armstrong Ranch consumed any alcoholic beverage.  The shooting group that afternoon consisted of Katharine Armstrong, Vice President Cheney, Ambassador Willeford, Harry Whittington and myself.  To the best of my knowledge, alcohol was not a factor in the accidental shooting of Mr. Whittington.

Sarita Armstrong Hixon
2/15/06

Oscar Medellin

KENEDY COUNTY SHERIFF DEPARTMENT
AFFIDAVIT

STATE OF TEXAS
COUNTY OF KENEDY

BEFORE ME, THE UNDERSIGNED AUTHORITY, ON THIS DAY PERSONALLY APPEARED Oscar Medellin AND AFTER BEING DULY SWORN, STATES UPON OATH THAT:

My name is Oscar Medellin and I live on the Armstrong Ranch, Armstrong TX, my mailing address is P.O. Box 395, Armstrong, TX 78338, and I am 19 years of age.

I was an outrider on the day of the incident.  I had found a covey of quail.  I called it in through the walkie talkie and the group said they were on the way.  On the way to my covey they encountered another covey that flushed up about 100 yards away from the one I found.  They decided to shoot at that one first.  After they were done they shooting at the covey the vice president asked me if I would take him to the covey I found.  The covey that I had found was in walking distance so the vice president, a lady, a secret service personnel, and I walked towards the next covey.  We walked about 75 yards and birds popped up.  There was a single that stayed in the grass so I flushed it up.  The bird flew behind towards the sunset and that was where Mr. Whittington was at walking from the last covey about 30-40 yards away from us in a lower spot from us.  The vice president followed the bird and shot and accidentally hit Mr. Whittington.  My dad ran to him and checked on him.  Then a doctor that the vice president had ran from the truck also.  After that I ran my horse towards him and saw him laying on the ground with a bloody face.  I then ran to the jeep to help put the dogs on the jeep and then I was told to leave so I rode back toward the trailer.

Oscar Medellin

Gerardo Medellin

Tuesday February 14, 2006

My name is Gerardo Medellin and I live on the Armstrong Ranch, Armstrong, TX.  My mailing address is P.O. Box 395, Armstrong, TX, 78338 and I am 45 years of age.

On Saturday February 11, 2006 at approximately 5:30 or 5:45 the dog handlers dog found a covey facing west.  We flushed the covey and everyone shot and Mr. Whittington had a double.  After that I worked the lab dog to find one of the birds of the double shot.  Mr. Whittington assisted me in finding the first bird.  After finding the first bird, Mr. Whittington asked me if I saw where the second bird had fallen.  I told him yes and went to find it.  As I was looking for the second bird Mr. Whittington went back to the hunting jeep.  It took me approximately 5 minutes to locate the second bird.  At that time, I saw Mr. Whittington walking towards the other hunters I yelled to him that I had found his other bird.

Shortly after that the outrider (Oscar) pointing where the other covey was at.  At this time I was walking towards them also to join them.

When I was walking towards the hunters a single bird flew behind the Vice President towards Mr. Whittington.  That is when Vice President shot towards the bird and Mr. Whittington was in the line of fire.

Gerardo Medellin

Michael Hubert

I Michael Andrew Hubert live at [redacted] El Camp, Tx, 77437 was a guide on the Armstrong Ranch on the day of 2-11-06.  Around the time of 5:40 pm my dog had pointed a covey.  I was the first to get to the dog and then Jerry was shortly there after.  Jerry was drove the car Mr. Cheney was in.  Pam, Mr. Cheney, and Harry where [sic] the hunters.  We walk up to the dog and shot the covey [illegible].  We had 3 birds down.  Mr. Cheney shot 1 and Harry shot 2.  We had found 2 of the 3 birds.  While we were looking for the 3rd bird Oscar the outrider flushed another covey.  Pam & Mr. Cheney walked over to Oscar.  Harry at this time had made his way over to the area where Pam & Mr. Cheney were shooting.  A bird got up in front of Mr. Cheney and flew in the direction of Harry.  Mr. Cheney not knowing that Harry had made his way into the shooting area shot at the bird.  And at that time is when Harry was shot.

Signed,
2-17-06


Gilberto San Miguel

KENEDY COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT
TX 1310000
INCIDENT REPORT
02/11/2006
NUMBER: 06020136    REPORT DATE: 02/15/2006    ORI: TX1310000
LOCATION: ARMSTRONG RANCH        ZONE: ARMSTRONG

At approximately 1830 hrs on Saturday February 11, 2006, Kenedy County Sheriff Ramon Salinas contacted me, Chief Deputy Gilberto San Miguel Jr.  The phone call was in reference to a hunting accident that occurred on the Armstrong Ranch.  I was told by Sheriff Salinas to report to the main house on the Armstrong Ranch on Sunday February 12, at 0800 hrs and I would receive more information when I got there.

On Sunday, February 12, 2006, at approximately 0805 hrs, I Chief Deputy Gilberto San Miguel Jr., arrived at the bump gate to the Armstrong Ranch.  This ranch is located approximately twenty-one miles south of Sarita, Texas in Kenedy County.  There at the bump gate, Secret Service, and Border Patrol personnel met me.  I identified myself and told everyone I was to report to the main house.  I was instructed to park my vehicle so it could be inspected before I could proceed to the main house.  While my vehicle was getting inspected, a Secret Service agent approached me and he advise me he would be riding with me to the main house.  As I was approaching the main house, I was instructed to park my vehicle by the cattle guard.  There I walked across the cattle guard and was turned over to another agent who identified himself to me a s Michael A. Lee, Special Agent in charge with the Secret Service.

As we entered the main house, Mr. Lee introduced me to Vice President Cheney.  Mr. Cheney shook my hand and told me he was there to cooperate in any way with the interview.  As I got comfortable at a table inside the main house, I asked Mr. Cheney if he could explain to me what had happened the day of the incident.

Mr. Cheney told me that on Saturday, February 11, 2006 at approximately 5:30 pm on the Armstrong Ranch there was a three vehicle hunting party that consisted of himself, Bo Hubert, Pam Willeford, Jerry Medellin, Katharine Armstrong, Sarita Armstrong Hixon, Harry Whittington, and Oscar Medellin.  Mr. Cheney told me the sun was setting to the west when the dogs had located a covey.  Around the same time, Oscar Medellin notified the hunters he had also located a covey.  After the group shot at the first covey he and Pam Willeford proceeded to the second covey because Harry Whittington was looking for his downed birds.  Mr. Cheney told me he and Pam Willeford had walked approximately 00 yards from the first location and met up with Oscar Medellin and the hunting guide Bo Hubert.  There was a single bird that flew behind him and he followed the bird by line of sight in a counter clockwise direction not realizing Harry Whittington had walked up from behind and had positioned himself approximately 30 yards to the west of him.  Mr. Cheney told me the reason Harry Whittington sustained the injuries to his face and upper body was that Mr. Whittington was standing on ground that was lower than the one he was standing on.  Mr. Cheney told me if Mr. Whittington was on the same ground level the injuries might have been lower on Mr. Whittington’s body.

The weapon Mr. Cheney was using at the time of the incident was an over under twenty-eight gauge shotgun.  It had a brand name of Perazzi Brescia and was made in Italy.  The serial number on the weapon read 115288.

At that time, I told Mr. Cheney I didn’t need any more information at this time, but how could I reach him.  Mr. Cheney told me I could contact Mr. Lee.  I then excused myself and proceeded out of the main house.

While outside around the headquarters I was able to locate and get information from Gerardo Medellin TX dl# [redacted], who helped me identify the other people in the hunting party, Michael Andrew Hubert TX dl# [redacted], Pamela Pitzer Willeford TX dl# [redacted], and Katharine Armstrong TX dl# [redacted].  I was able to speak briefly with Katharine Armstrong who told me pretty much the same story Mr. Cheney told me.  (See her written statement for further details.)

On Monday, February 13, 2006, at approximately 1000 hrs I Chief Deputy Gilberto San Miguel Jr. and Lt. Juan J. Guzman went to Spohn Memorial Hospital located in Corpus Christi, Texas to speak with Harry Whittington.  We were escorted to Mr. Whittington’s room and there I introduced Lt. Guzman and myself to Mr. Whittington who was sitting in a chair.  I told Mr. Whittington we needed to speak with him on the incident that occurred Saturday February 11, 2006.  I asked Mr. Whittington if we could record our conversation and Mr. Whittington requested not to be recorded due to his voice being raspy.  It was then I requested a written affidavit be done and Mr. Whittington gladly agreed to do one as soon as he returned back home to his office.

Mr. Whittington did speak of the incident and explained foremost there was no alcohol during the hunt and everyone was wearing the proper hunting attire of blaze orange.  The hunting group was out to shoot a covey that the dogs had found, about the same time, a second covey was found by the outrider.  The first covey was flushed and he got a double.  While looking for the downed birds, he had returned back at one point to the hunting vehicles where Katharine and Sarita were to let them go for the second covey.  However, Katharine had told him to go and shoot the second covey.  So, at that time, he proceeded to join the hunters who had already moved from the first location.  At that time, a nurse came in the room and asked Lt. Guzman and I to kind of hurry up so Mr. Whittington could rest.  Mr. Whittington again reiterated that this incident was just an accident.  He was concerned this incident would bring a bad imagine [sic] to hunting in Texas.  I then told Mr. Whittington I would give him a call in a few days to get the written affidavit.   

On Tuesday February 14, 2006 I spoke with Gerardo Medellin who dictated to me as I wrote his affidavit.  (See Affidavit for further details.)  I was also taken to the area were [sic] the incident occurred.  The pasture name is the Comal Pasture and it is located at approximately four miles west of U.S. Highway 77.  The GPS readings for this incident was retrieved from my phone as N 26* 56.352’ W 97* 50.420” while on location, I was able to understand more how Mr. Cheney and Katharine Armstrong described the area in their statement.

On Wednesday February 15, 2006 I was able to make contact with Katharine Armstrong, Sarita Armstrong Hixon, Pamela Willeford, and Michael Hubert.  I requested a written affidavit from each one of them.  I was able to get everyone’s affidavit except for Mr. Hubert’s affidavit.  He told he would be in the area sometime Friday February 17, 2006 and would get in contact with me.

STATUS: CLOSED    STATUS DATE: 02/15/2006
OFFICER: SAN MIGUEL, GILBERTO JR.    502

02/15/2006 16:00 P.M.    3

Ramon Salinas

KENEDY COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT
TX 1310000
INCIDENT REPORT
02/11/2006
NUMBER: 06020136    REPORT DATE: 02/15/2006    ORI: TX1310000
LOCATION: ARMSTRONG RANCH        ZONE: ARMSTRONG

On February 11, 2006 at approximately 5:30 p.m., I, Ramon Salinas, III, and Sheriff of Kenedy County received a telephone call at my home from Captain Charles Kirk in reference to a possible hunting accident that had occurred on the Armstrong Ranch.  Captain Kirk stated that he was on his way to the Armstrong gate to get more information.

About 8 to 10 minutes later, I received another call from a United States Secret Service Agent; I believe his name was Martinez.  He said that the purpose of the call was to officially notify the Kenedy County Sheriff’s Office of a hunting accident that had just occurred on the Armstrong Ranch and that it involved Vice-President Cheney.

After I hung up, Captain Kirk called me back and said that he’d made contact with a Border Patrol agent at the Armstrong gate and that the Agent told him that he didn’t know anything about the accident.  I then told Captain Kirk that it was fine and that I would contact someone on the Ranch.

After speaking with Captain Kirk I contacted Constable Ramiro Medellin Jr., former Sheriff of Kenedy County and asked him if he had any information about the accident.  Constable Medllin stated that he would call me right back.

Constable Medellin returned my call and said, “This in fact is an accident.”  He stated that he had spoken with some of the people in the hunting party who were eyewitnesses and that they all said it was definitely a hunting accident.  I also spoke with another eyewitness and he said the same thing, that it was an accident.

After hearing the same information from eyewitnesses and Constable MEdellin, it was at this time that I decided to send my Chief Deputy first this Sunday morning to interview the Vice-President and other witnesses.

A few minutes later, I received another call from the Secret Service asking if I was going to send someone to the Ranch.  I told him that someone would be there first thing in the morning.  The Secret Service said they would be at the gate waiting.

At approximately 6:15 p.m. I contacted Chief Deputy San Miguel and advised him of the incident and to be at the gate at approximately 8:00 a.m.

See Chief Deputy Gilberto San Miguel’s report for further information.

STATUS: CLOSED    STATUS DATE: 02/15/2006
OFFICER: SALINAS, RAMON   501

02/15/2006 16:00 P.M.    2

Handcrafted by Flip on February 22, 2006 |

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