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Oct 1, 2009 5:40 pm US/Central
Rick Perry's Cousin Killed By Montague Deputies
AUSTIN (CBS 11 NEWS/AP) ―
The Texas Rangers are investigating the shooting death of a cousin of Governor Rick Perry in a mysterious exchange of gunfire with Montague County sheriff's deputies.
An attorney for Larry Don Wheeler's estate says the 74-year-old North Texas man was sitting on his backyard deck after dinner Saturday night at his home near the Nocona Hills Country Club.
The police dispatcher's call sheet reports deputies were called to Wheeler's home by a tenant who was moving out of the apartment next door. The caller reported Wheeler was randomly shooting his rifle behind his home, and she felt threatened.
It's unclear what happened when the two deputies arrived at the house, but soon after Wheeler was shot and killed. One of the deputies was also struck by a shotgun pellet. At this time, it isn't known who opened fire first.
An attorney for the family, David Gossom, said bullet holes riddled the back seat cushion of the chair where Wheeler was sitting and the floor of his deck.
According to Gossom, Wheeler's wife, Jo Wheeler, was just inside the door at the time of the shooting and didn't know the deputies were present.
"She'd been sitting out there with him for a while and had gone in the house," Gossom said. "All she knows is she'd been talking to her husband, they had dinner, he'd gone outside to sit for a while, and the next thing she hears is boom boom boom and he was shot."
Montague County District Attorney Jack McGaughey says Wheeler was holding a shotgun when the deputies arrived. An autopsy was performed on Wheeler. The results are pending.
According to his obituary, the 74-year-old was retired and passionate about helping with his cousin Rick Perry's election campaigns. Perry's office wouldn't elaborate on his relationship with Wheeler.
Perry told the AP on Thursday that the death was tragic but stressed he hardly knew his cousin, even though he was listed as a member of Perry's 2006 re-election steering committee.
"I'm not sure I would pick him out of a lineup," the governor said of Wheeler, who he said was a distant cousin on his grandmother's side.
We talked to Perry's office Friday about the shooting, but were told there would be no comment beyond what the governor told the AP on Thursday.
Funeral services for for Wheeler were held Thursday morning.
UPDATE: On Thursday we erroneously reported that Governor Perry's office hung up on us when we called for comment Thursday afternoon.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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