From caller.com today
Sheriff Ramon Salinas III said no one in the federal government has told him or his deputies how to do their job. He was the one who decided not to go to the ranch to investigate until Sunday, the day after Cheney shot and wounded Austin lawyer Harry Whittington on a quail hunt. Salinas based the decision on witness accounts and advice from people on the ranch he knows and trusts, including a former sheriff.
"Everybody's been saying there's a cover-up from the time they heard about this," he said. "That is not true."
Salinas said he was barbecuing with his family at 5:30 p.m. Saturday when he received a call from sheriff's Capt. Charles Kirk.
"He told me he heard of a possible hunting accident on Armstrong Ranch," Salinas said.
Minutes later, Salinas got a call from a U.S. Secret Service agent.
"He said the reason he was calling was to officially notify the sheriff's department that the vice president was involved in that shooting accident."
Soon after, Salinas said, Kirk called him from the Armstrong Ranch gate. He told him he was there with a U.S. Border Patrol agent who didn't know what was going on.
"I told him don't worry about it. I'll make a call," Salinas said.
Salinas called Precinct 3 Constable Ramiro Medellin Jr., a former sheriff who lives on Armstrong Ranch and works as a ranch hand. Medellin called Salinas back and confirmed the incident was an accident.
It was at this point that Salinas decided to wait until the next morning to send Chief Deputy Gilberto San Miguel Jr. to investigate.
"We've known these people (witnesses) for years. They are honest and wouldn't call us, telling us a lie," Salinas said. "I talked to an eyewitness who said it was a definite accident. We knew Mr. Whittington was being cared for."
He told a Secret Service agent who called him that he would send San Miguel to the ranch at 8 a.m. Sunday.
Sheriff: "You heard three shots, I tell you! Three shots!! The rest were echoes..."
Eyewitness: No, I heard at least FOUR shots, one from over there by that fence...on the grassy knoll!!
Sheriff: You heard THREE shots, lady! That's all we're willing to confirm. Now, go home & don't talk to anybody about this...
Looks like this shoots the cover up theory all to hell