"I bear no malice towards the man who shot me"
The police officer who was shot and injured by Raoul Moat has said: "I bear no malice towards the man who shot me."
In a statement issued through the Northumbria force, Pc David Rathband thanked everyone who had helped him and sent him messages of support.
He said: "I bear no malice towards the man who shot me but now wish to move on with my life.
"I am acutely aware of the impact events have had on many people and my thoughts are with them all, particularly the family of Chris Brown."
Earlier, a friend of the gunman claimed he would have eventually surrendered to police and "passed his gun over".
Tony Laidler went to Rothbury on Saturday in a bid to help his friend but said police made him leave without giving him the chance to speak to Moat.
He told GMTV: "I think I could have actually got him out of it because he didn't want to be shot. He was actually walking through the town so people could see him because he was actually sick of what was going on. He wanted to be caught."
Mr Laidler, who knew Moat, 37, for more than 30 years, criticised police for twice firing a Taser at the fugitive. He said: "I think if police didn't try and rush him with their Tasers he would have probably passed his gun over in the end anyway."
Moat's brother also criticised the use of Tasers and said his death was like a "public execution". Angus Moat, 39, said his brother was "no psycho" and may have killed himself in an "involuntary reaction" to being hit with the stun gun.
He also said police would not let him intervene during the tense six-hour stand-off which ended with a fatal gunshot at 1.15am on Saturday, and is convinced he could have prevented his death.
By The Press Association
