On February 11, 2006, Cheney, reportedly in view of 6 witnesses, shot Harry Whittington, a 78-year-old Texas attorney, in the face, neck, and upper torso with birdshot pellets from a shotgun when he turned to shoot a quail (a small bird) while hunting on a southern Texas ranch. Whittington suffered a "minor heart attack" and atrial fibrillation due to a pellet that embedded in the outer layers of his heart.
The Kenedy County Sheriff's office cleared Cheney of any criminal wrongdoing in the matter , and in an interview with Fox News, Cheney accepted full responsibility for the incident. Whittington was discharged from the hospital on February 17, 2006, and characterized the incident as being quite brutal, later Whittington apologized to the vice-president for the trauma he had caused him by getting shot. Some conspiracy theorists believe that Dick Cheney was drunk when he shot Harry Whittington and that the government is trying to hide this from the public. Dick Cheney has stated many times that it was an honest accident.

...Ah, I see.