US Vice President Dick Cheney has said that accidentally shooting a friend while bird hunting last weekend was one of the worst days of his life.
However, Mr Cheney rejected criticism that he waited too long to make the incident public.
Mr Cheney made his first public comments on the incident in an interview with Fox News Channel.
He had been under pressure from Democrats and some Republicans to break his silence about his shooting of 78-year-old Texas lawyer, Harry Whittington, on a Texas ranch last Saturday.
Mr Whittington was sprayed with shotgun pellets; he was hit in the cheek, neck and chest. However, doctors have said he is now on the road to recovery.
