Dick Cheney Hunting Incident - Controversial Points

Controversial Points

Questions have been raised regarding the shooting, even as Kenedy County Sheriff's Office documents support the official story by Cheney and his party.

• Re-creations of the incident were enacted by George Gongora and John Metz, a photographer and producer respectively for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Also a hunter re-created it according to the Whidbey News-Times. All tests seemed to prove that the distance was much closer than the 90 feet (27 m) claimed. Local Quail Hunters have also argued that the range was closer, while others, such as forensic expert Jon Nordby, confirm the plausibility of the official reports.
• The time of the shooting was estimated by Cheney and the other members of the hunting party to be variously between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. In the Kenedy County Sheriff's Report, Officer Ramone Salinas III states that he first heard news of the shooting from a Captain Charles Kirk (fellow officer) at about 5:30 p.m. Kirk had heard of the shooting prior to that phone call. In Salinas's statement, Salinas says he received official notice from the Secret Service 8-10 minutes after the 5:30 p.m. phone call. The Secret Service is reported, to have said that they gave notice to the Sheriff about 1 hour after the shooting, which would put the time of the shooting at approximately 4:40 p.m., 60-90 minutes before the entire hunting party's recollection.