You’re at the cool kids party or what is otherwise known as the White House Correspondent’s Dinner. All your friends are there rubbing shoulders with each other and cozying up to the famous television and Hollywood types you see on screen each night. Within minutes faint gunshots are heard from the hallway and you run for cover under tables or farther away from your seat to make sure you stay out of the line of fire. You imagine the headlines the next day as you pull out your phone and begin filming while the news person next to you scribbles down observations on a napkin hoping, as usual, to become part of the story, somehow, someway. Screams overtake your senses as secret service and other law enforcement sprint to cover up the President of the United States, the Vice President and many other cabinet members in attendance.

“A loud bang of gun shots, then “Get down, get down, get down!” I hit the floor at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner mid conversation with Jamie, who heroically protected me, whispering, “You’re ok, you’re ok, you’re ok,” while my host from the Boston Globe laid on the ground while furiously taking notes, and thousands of journalists, photographers, and editors took cover under tables and beneath chairs.” These are the words of Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Bobby Kennedy and a guest at the dinner.

CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer was in the hallway. “All of a sudden I heard these loud, very loud, very scary gunshots right near me. Next thing I knew, a police officer threw me to the ground and was on top of me. I did see the gunman on the ground after he started shooting. Police officers threw him to the ground but he was still shooting. And I could hear the shots going off,”

Another person in attendance said, “We all crawled under our table for what felt like a long time.”

And last but not least, Mark Thompson, the CEO of CNN, said this in a statement to his staff. “We know this was a frightening and disruptive situation for those in the room, and for your colleagues and loved ones watching live on CNN. Moments like this can stay with you in ways that aren’t necessarily immediate or obvious.”

Now imagine you’re a four-year-old girl who has 45 seconds to get to her safe room because of a ballistic missile launched straight at her.

I’m not discounting the shooting or the chaos and fear that took hold of the room. I am sure it was frightening for everyone in attendance. But what I am doing is trying to get these people to put themselves in the shoes of an average everyday........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)