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Tonya Papanikolas Reporting The Texas lawyer shot by Vice President Dick Cheney in a hunting accident is back in Intensive Care tonight. A bird shot pellet worked its way into Harry Whittington's heart, causing him to suffer a minor heart attack.
Some are questioning who knew what had happened and when. Others want to know if Vice President Cheney followed hunting safety guidelines.
Every hunter knows there are rules to follow when it comes to hunting. One of the most important is to know what you're shooting at. Hunter Education coordinator Lenny Rees, with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, says swinging around to shoot game, like the Vice President did, shows up on accident statistics.
Lenny Rees, Hunter Education Coordinator, Utah Div. of Wildlife Resources: "It is one of the more common mistakes that hunters make on bird hunting."
When Rees trains instructors, he tells them hunters should only shoot within a 45-degree radius of where they're standing, what he calls the "zone of fire."
Lenny Rees: "When I swung on a bird, if a bird came up, I would come to a certain point and stop, on either direction."
Whether the Vice President followed these kinds of safety guidelines is unknown. But many hunting experts say the burden of safety is on the shooter.
Lenny Rees: "You have to stay focused and just keep your mind on what you're doing."
People are also questioning today why the local law enforcement waited 14 hours to interview the Vice President. According to the Associated Press, the Secret Service says its local office called the sheriff to report the accident the night of the shooting and made arrangements to have deputies come out the next morning to interview him.
Senator Harry Reid, Democrat, Nevada: "Talk about secrecy, the Vice President accidentally shoots someone and keeps that a secret for nearly a day."
Across the nation, 26 quail hunting accidents were reported in 2002. Here in Utah over the last five years, six hunting accidents were similar to the Cheney shooting. Lenny Rees says the state has a relatively low accident rate because people born after 1965 have to take hunter education classes.
