My Experience Inside the Ballroom During the WHCD Shooting |
Never for a moment did I think I was in danger when shots rang out at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner, although nearly every person I was sitting with — and most of the diners near us — immediately ducked completely under the table, pulled the tablecloth down behind them, and fell silent.
Their hiding on cue rattled me more than the chaos itself. It felt too rehearsed and too passive; I wanted to figure out where the danger was coming from and decide which way to run. I consider the duck-and-hide instincts of my younger colleagues to be the product of years of mandatory drills practicing how to react to a school shooting. Us older folk, who grew up in the years before the 1999 Columbine massacre, have different muscle memory: back in the 80s and 90s, if you heard shots or even the threat of violence at a club, bar or block party, the best move was to round up your friends and get the hell out of there.
My conscious mind had registered the Washington Hilton ballroom as a safe place with this year’s security........