Dick Cheney accidentally shot Texas attorney Harry Whittington during a quail hunting trip in 2006.

What happened

  • On February 11, 2006, then–Vice President Dick Cheney was hunting quail on the Armstrong Ranch in South Texas when he struck his hunting companion Harry Whittington with shotgun pellets.
  • Whittington, then 78, was hit in the face, neck, and upper body by birdshot after he had moved slightly away from the hunting line to retrieve a bird.

Who Harry Whittington was

  • Harry Whittington was a prominent Texas lawyer and real estate investor who had long-standing connections in Republican political circles.
  • He later described the incident as an accident , emphasized his decades of hunting experience, and publicly forgave Cheney.

Aftermath and injuries

  • Whittington was hospitalized and treated in intensive care; doctors later reported he suffered a minor heart attack due to a pellet lodged near his heart.
  • When he left the hospital, Whittington apologized for the trouble the incident had caused Cheney and his family, while Cheney called it one of the worst days of his life and accepted responsibility, saying he was “the guy who pulled the trigger and shot my friend.”

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.