The hunters had falsely claimed they were ambushed by illegal immigrants, authorities said.
Texas hunters who told authorities they had been shot during an ambush by "illegal aliens" made the whole story up - and actually shot each other, authorities said.
Hunting guides Walker Daugherty and Michael Bryant have been indicted on charges of using deadly conduct by discharging firearms in the direction of each other.
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Presidio County Sheriff Danny Dominguez said an investigation determined Daugherty and another member of their party were wounded by friendly fire and no one else was involved, reported KOSA-TV.
The January 6 shooting generated headlines across the country as the men told investigators of being ambushed as they slept at the Circle Dug Ranch in Texas, just five miles north of the Mexican border.
At the time, a statement issued by a rancher friend said the Daugherty family believed "the assailants intended to kill the party. The attackers were strategically placed around the lodge and the men were fired upon from different areas," the Albuquerque Journal reported.
Sheriff: Hunting party members fired on each other, @laurenvillagran reports — #border #Texas #abq https://t.co/qGDp24tm9j pic.twitter.com/VOddfrm3MR
— Ryan Lowery (@ryanmlowery) January 14, 2017
Daugherty, 26, who was shot in the stomach, said he had no health insurance and a GoFundMe page established in his name raised more than $26,000. Edwin Roberts, 59, was shot in the arm. Both recovered from their wounds.
The story received extra traction when Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller shared the men's account on Facebook, where he has more than 400,000 followers.
"This why we need the wall," Miller wrote in a post that has since been deleted. It was shared more than 600,000 times.
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But what really happened is that Daugherty and Bryant were "paranoid" about Mexicans crossing the border, amid all the public banter about immigration woes, and they opened fire after hearing noises inside an RV, according to authorities.
Daugherty shot Roberts and Bryant shot Daugherty, the sheriff said.
It is not clear whether the men have been taken into custody. Phone messages left by InsideEdition.com for Dominquez and the county prosecutor were not immediately returned.
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