Cheney cleared after shooting

2006-02-17 08:21

Corpus Christi - Police have cleared vice-president Dick Cheney of any wrongdoing in his weekend hunting mishap and have closed the case on Thursday, saying no charges will be filed.

Kenedy County Sheriff Ramon Salinas said an investigation had determined Cheney shot Texas lawyer Harry Whittington by accident, therefore no legal action was needed.

Salinas said: "No charges will be filed against anybody, and that's it."

President George W Bush, in his first public comments on the shooting, said on Thursday that he was satisfied with the explanation Cheney gave about the accident.

Bush said: "I thought the vice-president handled the issue just fine. And I thought his explanation yesterday was a powerful explanation."

'Our investigation is over'

Cheney sprayed Whittington, 78, with birdshot on Saturday after he whirled around to shoot a flying quail, while hunting on a southern Texas ranch.

Chief deputy Gilbert San Miguel, who conducted the shooting probe, said: "Our investigation is over ... this was just a mere hunting accident."

A final report issued on Thursday showed that San Miguel didn't start his investigation until a day after the shooting and his questioning of Whittington was cut off by a hospital nurse who said he needed to rest.

The mishap blew up into a political furor after Cheney didn't disclose it until nearly a day later after he let ranch owner Katharine Armstrong call it into the Corpus Christi Caller-Times on Sunday.

Bush administration

The media complained that the White House had tried to hide the accident and democrats charged it showed the secretiveness of the Bush administration.

Cheney finally spoke about it on Wednesday and detailed the shooting, described it as "one of the worst days of my life".

Bush said that democrats who said the shooting was an example of White House secrecy "are making the wrong conclusion about a tragic accident.

"Now our concerns are directed toward the recovery of our friend."

Whittington 'doing wonderfully well'

Whittington was struck in the face, neck and upper torso by up to 200 metal pellets, one of which lodged near his heart and gave him a minor heart attack on Tuesday.

Doctors at Corpus Christi Hospital, where he was being treated said on Thursday that he was now "doing wonderfully well". He was expected to be sent home in the next few days.

The brief sheriff's report described San Miguel's interviews with Cheney and Whittington in which both said it was an accident and Whittington, a long-time prominent republican in Texas, said: "There was no alcohol during the hunt."

The deputy said Cheney told him that "there was a single bird that flew behind him and he followed the bird by line of sight in a counter clockwise direction, not realising Whittington had walked up from behind and had positioned himself approximately 30 yards to the west of him".

- Reuters