03:05 PM EST on Wednesday, February 15, 2006

By NEDRA PICKLER and LYNN BREZOSKY / Associated Press Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Vice President Dick Cheney on Wednesday accepted full responsibility for shooting a fellow hunter and defended his decision not to publicly disclose the accident until the following day.

“I’m the guy who pulled the trigger that fired the round that hit Harry,” Cheney told Fox News Channel in his first public comments since the accident Saturday in south Texas.

“You can talk about all of the other conditions that exist at the time but that’s the bottom line and—it was not Harry’s fault,” he said in an interview with Brit Hume. “You can’t blame anybody else. I’m the guy who pulled the trigger and shot my friend.”

He was referring to Harry Whittington, 78, who was hit in a bird hunting expedition Saturday. Whittington was reported doing well at a Texas hospital Wednesday after doctors a pellet entered his heart and had what doctors called caused “a mild heart attack.”

Cheney has been roundly criticized for failing to tell the public about the accident until the next day. He said he thought it made sense to let the owner of the ranch where it happened reveal the accident on the local newspaper’s Web site Sunday morning.

“I thought that was the right call,” Cheney said. “I still do.”

One pellet from Cheney’s shotgun—just under one-tenth of an inch in diameter—traveled to Whittington’s heart. Hospital officials said the Texan had a normal heart rhythm again Wednesday afternoon and was sitting up in a chair, eating regular food and planning to do some legal work in his room.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)