Questions are being raised about how Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL turned Republican candidate in the U.S. Senate race in Montana, was injured by gunfire some years ago.
In public, Sheehy has claimed that he was injured during combat in Afghanistan and never reported, but police records obtained by The Washington Post say he accidentally shot himself inside Glacier National Park.
According to the October 2015 police records, Sheehy said he accidentally shot himself in the arm when he dropped his Colt revolver chambered in .45 Long Colt in a parking lot while arranging his gear.
When confronted with the records, Sheehy told reporters that he actually fell inside the park and needed medical attention. At the hospital, though, doctors found a bullet lodged in his arm, which prompted an investigation.
When talking to the officer, Sheehy said he lied about the gunshot wound, saying he accidentally shot himself, to protect his fellow servicemen because he might have been hit by friendly fire, specifically a ricochet.
Sheehy told The Post that "the only thing I'm guilty of is admitting to doing something I never did" about illegally discharging his weapon inside the national park. He added: "It was a small price to pay to make sure that a whole team of really great Americans didn't get dragged through the mud over this."
However, the park ranger who interviewed Sheehy told the newspaper that Sheehy showed him the firearm and he observed that the cylinder was loaded but one round was missing.
