Hunters Charged in Texas Shooting Had Blamed Immigrants

Two hunters accused in a shooting on a remote Texas ranch near the Mexican border had told authorities that they were attacked by immigrants who had entered the country illegally.

Presidio County Sheriff Danny Dominguez told Odessa television KOSA that a grand jury indicted Michael Bryant and Walker Daugherty last week on charges of using deadly conduct by discharging firearms in the direction of others.

The charges stem from a Jan. 6 incident where police responding to call about a shooting on a ranch near Candelaria found Daugherty and another man in the hunting party, Edwin Roberts, with gunshot wounds.

Leroy, Bobby Joe and Bubba were spotlighting deer one night.
It was blacker than a woodchuck’s butthole. Leroy held up barbed wire so Bobby Joe and Bubba could climb though. Bubba’s Winchester had a round in chamber, safety off and as he was climbing through it just went off, hit Bobby in the chest and he fell dead as a hammer.

Leroy was the brains of the outfit. He knew they couldn’t admit to trespassing and hunting at night, so he said to Bubba: “We’re going to take Bobby over that public hunting ground. Sunrise is soon, so then you’re going into town to tell his widow, then call the cops. Hurry but be gentle with her dammit!”

So they drive fifty miles to the public grounds. It was light out and Bubba drove into town.
He returned an hour later with a case of Pearl beer under his arm.

“What happened ya big galoot?” asked Leroy.

Bubba scratched his head, cracked a beer and said,
“Yup, she come to the door. I axed her if she wuz Bobby Joe’s widder.
She said “Ah’m Bob’s wife but I ain’t no widder.
So I bet her a case of beer that she was.”

Before everyone believes the “fake news” that has been put out regarding this incident, you should know what the parties involved have said. Families statement follows;

“Official Family Statement - For Immediate Release 1/16/17
Written by Bob and Jennafer Daugherty
We, the family of Walker Daugherty, have decided to release a statement regarding our version of the events that
took place on a rural TX ranch along the Mexico border on January 6, 2017. Our statement comes after the
Presidio County Sheriff, Danny Dominguez issued what he described as his office’s conclusion to their investigation
of the incident. In an interview with reporters, Sheriff Dominguez declared that there was no cross-border activity
and the incident “was the result of friendly fire”. We have chosen to release our account of events leading up to
the incident to clear up, what we feel is, a lot of misinformation being reported.
Sheriff Dominguez’s statement that there has been “no indication of cross border activity” on the ranch is
inaccurate. We have been involved in numerous incidents of cross border activity on the Circle Dug Ranch. Since
December, we have been involved in 2 helicopter captures of illegal immigrants on the ranch. The first involved a
group of illegals immigrants we spotted and kept track of until Border Patrol arrived to apprehend them. The 2nd
capture was the result of a break-in at our camp while we were out hunting. The day after the robbery we located
a group of illegals through our spotting scopes and called Border Patrol, who again apprehended the immigrants.
They turned out to be the same group who robbed our camp and we were able to recover some of our stolen
property. Border Patrol agents told us that one of the robbers was also a convicted felon who had recently been
released from a prison in KS, MO. This was his fourth capture.
On another recent, yet separate, occasion two men from El Salvador came into our hunting camp and we provided
them with food and water until Border Patrol arrived. On yet another occasion we witnessed an individual
breaking into a neighboring ranch house. We reported the incident to Border Patrol who apprehended the
individual. We also routinely see foot tracks and other evidence of uninvited individuals on the ranch. Border
Patrol has told us that everyone in the area should be armed at all times and to never travel alone.
It is our opinion that the incident that took place on January 6th was a failed robbery attempt of our hunter client’s
RV. Our son Walker and our other guide, Michael, were responding to what they perceived to be an immediate
threat to the lives of our hunter and his wife. Walker was awakened, in his room in the ranch house, by an ongoing
commotion at the RV. He then awoke Michael as back up. Shots were fired and the hunter and Walker were both
wounded.
We do not deny that our hunter client was hit by a bullet that resulted from a horribly fearful and confusing
situation. However, the bullet that shot our son was not. That shot came later and from an entirely different
direction. We are unable to reveal all the details of the event at this time but we do not agree with the Sherriff’s
stated conclusion to the incident. We have 40 years’ experience guiding hunters. We know our surroundings, our
firearms, and our occupation. We have also assisted state game agencies in the apprehension of poaching cases
and I am a former reserve conservation officer for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. This incident
was not the result of miscommunication or reckless gun handling.
We are happy to report that our son Walker,
who was shot in the chest, is in stable
condition and continues to improve. We would
like to thank all those who have been praying
for our family and have supported us through
this crisis. There is no way we can express our
feelings of gratitude to everyone personally but
we know who you are and you will never ever
be forgotten. To all our friends both known and
unknown THANK YOU”

Also, know that Walker Daugherty has been fighting for his life since this incident occurred. He has been in and out of surgery and fighting infection. I believe the families story, the “Sheriff” has an agenda.

Yes thank you AZKathy, If everyone wants to believe the same sheriff who allowed Supreme Court Justice Scalias death uninvestigated and for him to be sent home without an autopsy then by all means, believe the Sheriff. Or believe me, I know these men, they are not drinkers, not untrained both are safety certified, they are not yahoos or liars. They are the son and son in law of my pastor. What they did was go to a chaotic situation where their client was clearly under duress. not knowing what was happening but based on the post Kathy posted could have been an attack on the hunters. This is what they believed. Walker is still in the hospital he is extremely fragile and we are all praying he makes it through this disaster. He does not have Michael’s bullet in his chest I have seen the xrays. There is no evidence they shot each other. The sheriff will claim they do all this intense investigation, but nobody showed for hours after the incident, and there was plenty of time to leave the area. We who know them believe them, we believe the Sheriff and the backpackers in the area want this outfitter out of the area permanently. You guess why that is. Do we really want to file felony charges against decent men who only attempted to run to the aid of someone they believed was in deadly trouble? Is that the kind of precedence we need to set?

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