The White House said today that President Bush was informed Saturday evening that Vice President Dick Cheney had shot a fellow hunter in South Texas earlier in the day, although the news was not disclosed publicly until Sunday afternoon.
The shooting, which occurred at about 6:30 p.m. Eastern time, left a prominent Austin lawyer and Republican campaign supporter, Harry Whittington, wounded by shotgun pellets in the neck, shoulder and chest.
"Chief of Staff Andy Card called the president around 7:30 p.m. to inform him that there was a hunting accident," a statement released today by the White House said. "He did not know the vice president was involved at that time. Subsequent to the call, Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove spoke with Mrs. Armstrong. He then called the president shortly before 8 p.m. to update him and let him know the vice president had accidentally shot Mr. Whittington."
In a contentious news briefing with White House reporters earlier about a subject that captivated the capital today, Scott McClellan, the president's spokesman, said he himself did not learn until about 6 a.m. on Sunday that it was Mr. Cheney who had shot Mr. Whittington, 78, when the two were on a weekend quail hunting trip along with several others at the Armstrong Ranch.
Mr. Whittington is still listed in stable condition at the intensive care unit of Christus Spohn Memorial Hospital in nearby Corpus Christi, Tex. Peter Banko, the hospital administrator, told reporters today that Mr. Whittington would be moved out of the intensive care unit later in the day but that no date had yet been set for him to leave the hospital.
The White House has been criticized for not publicly reporting the incident, or details of what happened, even up to today, when Mr. McClellan deflected most questions about the matter to the vice president's office. News of the shooting was first reported on the Web site of The Corpus Christi Caller-Times, after the owner of the ranch, Katherine Armstrong, called reporters there late Sunday morning to tell them of the incident, which had taken place about 18 hours earlier.
Ms. Armstrong, who was with the hunting party at the time of the shooting, told The Caller-Times that Mr. Cheney turned to shoot quail that had just flown into the air, accidentally peppering one side of Mr. Whittington's body. She said Mr. Cheney was unaware Mr. Whittington had approached him from behind, as the Texas lawyer had not followed hunting protocol and announced his presence to the other hunters.
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