Multiple media sources are reporting the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on a hunting trip in Texas.
The San Antonio Express-News first reported that Scalia, 79, was found dead at the Cibolo Creek Ranch, a resort in the Big Bend region south of Marfa, where he was staying as a guest.
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery confirmed Scalia’s death to the newspaper.
“I was told it was this morning,” Biery said of Scalia’s death. “It happened on a ranch out near Marfa. As far as the details, I think it’s pretty vague right now as to how,” he told the San Antonio Express-News. “My reaction is it’s really unfortunate with any death. And now, politically, in the presidential cycle we’re in my educated guess is nothing will happen before the next president is elected.”
The San Antonio paper quoted a statement released Saturday by Texas Gov. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott , who called Scalia a man of God, a patriot and an “unwavering defender of the written Constitution.”