Hunter who blamed illegal immigrants for shooting charged with deadly conduct

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

Presidio County Sheriff Danny Dominguez told Odessa television KOSA 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. The men were part of a group of hunters and told authorities they were attacked by people who had illegally crossed the nearby border and tried to steal an RV some of the hunters were using.

An investigation found that Daugherty shot Roberts and Bryant shot Daugherty, Dominguez said.

The 26-year-old Daugherty was airlifted to El Paso for treatment of the gunshot wound in the abdomen.

A Go Fund Me account for Walker Daugherty originally stated the men “were involved in a shootout with some illegals, when the illegals tried to steal Walker’s RV with them still inside.” Donors now have to sign in to “view additional information.”

The hunters’ claim became fodder for a Facebook post by Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who wrote the attack was another reason why a wall must be built to secure the Texas border to halt “violent criminals and members of drug cartels coming in.”

Dominguez at the time suggested the agriculture commissioner “needs to do his job and stick to that, and I’ll do my job.”

Miller has attracted attention for his social media posts, and his comments about the West Texas shooting were shared more than 6,500 times before being deleted.

Authorities say about 30 law enforcement officers searched the perimeter of the ranch where the hunters were staying, didn’t find signs of people approaching the camp that night and that investigators found no evidence of “cross-border violence.”