I,KateArmstrong,amoneoftheownersoftheArm…….

1、Katharine ArmstrongI, Kate Armstrong, am one of the owners of the Armstrong Ranch in Kenedy County, Texas andwas present and an eye witness to the hunting accident that occurred on Feb. 12th, atapproximately 5:30pm in the Comal pasture of the Armstrong Ranch. Although it was late in theafternoon and

2、 the sun was low, there was plenty of sunlight. All three shooters were wearingblaze 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 ofquail had been found. When the Vice President

3、, Harry Whittington and Pam Willeford got out ofthe 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 insome tall grass and brush. Mr. Whittington, with the assi

4、stance of Gerry Medellin and aLabrador went to the spot where the birds and sic fallen to find them. The two men and the doghad difficulty finding one of the birds and spent several minutes attempting to find it in the tallgrass. While MR. Whittington stayed behind to look for his bird, the Vice Pre

5、sident andAmbassador Willeford moved towards the second covey that was located further ahead and tothe left of the first covey. In the meantime, Mr. Whittington returned briefly to the car then wentback to look again for his lost bird. A short time later I noticed that Harry was moving forward torej

6、oin the Vice President and Ambassador Willeford. As he was moving forward I did not hearhim announce himself or call to them to let them know he was approaching from behind and totheir right. A single bird flushed in front of the Vice President and Ambassador Willeford. TheVice President swung throu

7、gh to his right and shot at the bird. Mr. Whittington fell to the groundabout 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 VicePresidents security detail was rushing to

8、hlils. sMidye as wesister, Sarita Hixon, Ambassador Willeford and I remained out of the way a short distance fromMr. Whittington until the ambulance arrived about 20 to 25 minutes later.Katharine ArmstrongFeb 15, 2006Pamela WillefordPamela P. Willeford RedactedAustin, TX 78703512-RedactedChief Deput

9、y Gilbert Sanmiguel, Jr.Pamela WillefordFebruary 15, 2006Statement on hunting accident of 2/11/06I, Pamela Willeford, of redacted, Austin, TX 78703, provide the following information regardingthe hunting accident on the Armstrong Ranch on February 11, 2006.I was a member of a group hunting quail on

10、Saturday afternoon, February 11, 2006, at theArmstrong Ranch. Included in the group were Katharine Armstrong, Sarita Hixon, HarryWhittington, Vice President Dick Cheney, and myself. The hunting vehicle was driven by a staffmember from the Armstrong Ranch; other vehicles included dog handlers and mem

11、bers of theVice Presidents group (security dand others).At approximately 5:30 p.m., the Vice President, Mr. Whittington and I left the vehicle to shoot acovey of quail that had been spotted by the outrider. A second covey was also spotted to the leftof our position. Katharine Armstrong and Sarita Hi

12、xon remained in the vehicle so that therewere three hunters“on the gwas on the left, the Vice President was in the center, and Mr. Whittington was on the right. Weflushed the first covey, and Mr. Whittington shot twice and killed two birds. He stopped to pickup his birds and spent several minutes lo

13、oking, 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 secondcovey. 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.

14、We walked forward, and a bird flushed in front of the Vice President and flew to our right. Weboth raised our guns, but I did not fire as the bird flew away from me. As I turned to my right tofollow the flight of the bird, and at the same timeTo:From:Date:RE:that the Vice President was aiming and fi

15、ring, 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 wasnow about 30 yards to the right (west) and slightly below us. MR. Whittington was hit bythe Vice Presidents shot andfell to the ground. The Vice President

16、rushed to Mr. Whittingtonsame 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 theambulance arrived and took Mr. Whittington away to the hospital.There was no alcohol consumed duri

17、ng the afternoon of the hunt in the field. I did consume aglass of wine at lunch, approximately 4-4 ? hours earlier.Pamela P. Willeford2/15/06immeds posSarita HixonMy n ame is Sarita Armstro ng Hix on. I am one of the owners of the Armstro ng Ranch in Kenedy Coun ty. I also have a home at redacted,

18、Houst on, TX 77027. I was quail hun ti ng at theArmstro ng Ranch the after noon of February 11,2006 and was an eye-wit ness to the shooti ngof Harry Whitt ington on that date.At about 5:30 p.m. the hunting car my group was ridi ng in stopped n ear a covey of quail whichhad bee n located by the out-r

19、ider, Oscar Medelli n. Those prese nt in the car were GerryMedelli n, the driver, Vice Preside nt Richard Chen ey, Ambassador Pam Willeford, Kathari neArmstro ng, Harry Whitt ington and myself. We decided that the shooters on the covey would beVice Preside nt Chen ey, Ambassador Willeford and Mr. Wh

20、itt ington. The three shootersapproached the covey, it flushed and Mr. Whitt ington shot two times, hitt ing two birds. Bothbirds fell n ear some mesquite trees in tall grass ahead and to the right of the car. Mr. Whittington and Gerry Medelli n walked to where the two birds fell and bega n searchi

21、ng for the quailwith a Labrador dog. They had trouble finding the birds in the tall grass and con ti nued searching for them at least five or more minu tes. At one point Mr. Whitt ington walked back to the carand I con gratulated him on his“double ” . He the n rejoined Gerry Medelli n searchi ng for

22、 the miss ing, dow ned bird in thetall grass.Shortly after the first covey flushed, a sec ond covey was located by the bird dog (po in ter) upahead and to the left of the car. While Mr. Whitt ington and Gerry Medelli n started searchi ng forMr. Whitt ingtons two quail, Ambassador Willeand Vice Presi

23、de nt Cheney walked ahead to shoot the sec ond covey located by the poin ter.Ambassador Willeford was on the left and Vice Preside nt Cheney was on the right as theyapproached the sec ond covey. Before they flushed the sec ond covey, Mr. Whitt ington startedwalki ng towards them from where he and Ge

24、rryMedelli n had bee n searchi ng for his quail.He Mr. Whitt ington approached the shooters from behi nd and to their right with the sun beh indhim. I did not hear him call out to war n the shooters of his approach. Mr. Whitt ington appearedto be about 30 yards from the shooters whe n a quail flushe

25、d near the shooters and flew in Mr.Whitt ington s directi on. Theshooters swung their shotgu ns followi ng the bird, I heard a shot and saw MR. Whitt ington fallto the ground. I lear ned a few mi nu tes later that the Vice Preside nt had fired the shot. Katharine Armstro ng and I were both in the hu

26、n ti ng car whe n I wit nessed the shooti ng. I wouldestimate the time to have bee n betwee n 5:45 and 6:00 p.m.Sarita Armstrong Hixon2/15/06My name is Sarita Armstrong Hixon. I would like to supplement the written witness statement Isubmitted earlier today to the Kenedy County Sheiffrs office. To m

27、y knowledge none of themembers of my shooting group the afternoon of February 11, 2006 at Armstrong Ranchconsumed any alcoholic beverage. The shooting group that afternoon consisted of KatharineArmstrong, Vice President Cheney, Ambassador Willeford, Harry Whittington and myself. Tothe best of my kno

28、wledge, alcohol was not a factor in the accidental shooting of Mr. Whittington.Sarita Armstrong Hixon2/15/06Oscar MedellinKENEDY COUNTY SHERIFF DEPARTMENTAFFIDAVITSTATE OF TEXASCOUNTY OF KENEDYBEFORE ME, THE UNDERSIGNED AUTHORITY, ON THIS DAY PERSONALLY APPEAREDOscar Medellin AND AFTER BEING DULY SW

29、ORN, STATES UPON OATH THAT:My name is Oscar Medellin and I live on the Armstrong Ranch, Armstrong TX, my mailingaddress 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 thewalkie talkie a

30、nd the group said they were on the way. On the way to my covey theyencountered another covey that flushed up about 100 yards away from the one I found. Theydecided to shoot at that one first. After they were done they shooting at the covey the vicepresident asked me if I would take him to the covey

31、I found. The covey that I had found was inwalking distance so the vice president, a lady, a secret service personnel, and I walked towardsthe next covey. We walked about 75 yards and birds popped up. There was a single that stayedin the grass so I flushed it up. The bird flew behind towards the suns

32、et and that was where Mr.Whittington was at walking from the last covey about 30-40 yards away from us in a lower spotfrom us. The vice president followed the bird and shot and accidentally hit Mr. Whittington. Mydad ran to him and checked on him. Then a doctor that the vice president had ran from t

33、he truckalso. 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 backtoward the trailer.Oscar MedellinGerardo MedellinTuesday February 14, 2006My name is Gerardo Mede

34、llin and I live on the Armstrong Ranch, Armstrong, TX. My mailingaddress 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 acovey facing west. We flushed the covey and everyone shot and Mr. Whittingto

35、n had a double.After that I worked the lab dog to find one of the birds of the double shot. Mr. Whittingtonassisted me in finding the first bird. After finding the first bird, Mr. Whittington asked me if I sawwhere the second bird had fallen. I told him yes and went to find it. As I was looking for

36、thesecond bird Mr. Whittington went back to the hunting jeep. It took me approximately 5 minutesto locate the second bird. At that time, I saw Mr. Whittington walking towards the other huntersI yelled to him that I had found his other bird.Shortly after that the outrider (Oscar) pointing where the other covey was