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

Quick Scoop: What Happened

In February 2006, then–Vice President Dick Cheney was hunting quail on a ranch in Texas when he accidentally struck his hunting companion, Harry Whittington, with birdshot from a shotgun. Whittington was 78 years old at the time and was hit in the face, neck, and upper torso, leading to serious but ultimately non- fatal injuries.

Who He Shot (Name & Background)

  • The person Cheney shot was Harry Whittington , a Texas lawyer and Republican political figure.
  • Whittington was known in Texas legal and political circles and had held various public service roles over decades.

Injury Details

  • Whittington was “peppered” with small birdshot pellets to his face, neck, and chest, which is why the incident is often described as being shot “in the face.”
  • Doctors left many pellets in his body; he later suffered a minor heart attack linked to a pellet near his heart but recovered and left the hospital about a week after the accident.

Aftermath and Public Reaction

  • The event quickly became a major news and late-night comedy topic, partly because a sitting vice president had shot someone during a hunting trip.
  • In an unusual twist, Whittington publicly apologized to Cheney after leaving the hospital, saying he was “deeply sorry for everything” Cheney and his family had to deal with after the incident.

Later Developments

  • Cheney described the day of the accident as one of the worst days of his life and consistently characterized it as a hunting accident.
  • Years later, obituaries and retrospectives on Whittington’s life continued to mention the shooting as a defining public moment, even though he had a long career beyond it.

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