Witness Describes Panic During Charlie Kirk's Assassination

[00:00] didn't think it was real. Um, until we

[00:03] started seeing everyone saying, "Get

[00:05] down. Get down." And I started hearing

[00:08] people calling their families saying

[00:10] that he got shot in the chest, then the

[00:12] neck. I was scared that other people

[00:14] were going to get hurt. I didn't think

[00:16] anything bad was really going to happen.

[00:18] It It took a huge toll on me once I

[00:20] heard about his passing. It's just um

[00:22] it's it's really heartbreaking that

[00:25] ringing in my ears of the gunshot going

[00:29] off, everyone ducking down. It's really

[00:31] a terrifying experience I'm never going

[00:33] to be able to forget about.

[00:37] I want to go to Tiana Laauo joining us,

[00:42] a student that was there a few yards

[00:46] away from Charlie Kirk when he was

[00:50] murdered.

[00:51] Did you hear Joe Scott Morgan state that

[00:54] that bullet likely traveled inches from

[00:59] you and your friend you brought?

[01:03] >> Yes, I did hear about that. I mean,

[01:05] that's that's so terrifying to hear that

[01:09] we would have possibly been shot as

[01:11] well.

[01:12] >> Tiana, tell us what happened that day.

[01:17] So, it was into the second question when

[01:20] me and my friend heard the gunshot go

[01:23] off. We both immediately looked up to

[01:26] into the sky thinking that there might

[01:28] have been a firecracker of some sort. We

[01:30] didn't think it was real um until we

[01:33] started seeing everyone saying get down,

[01:36] get down. Uh everyone started ducking

[01:38] down and started running towards the

[01:41] building behind us.

[01:45] You stated when you first heard the

[01:47] gunshot, you didn't realize it was a

[01:49] gun. What did you think it was?

[01:53] >> I thought it was a firecracker. I don't

[01:55] know. Maybe some sick joke of some sort.

[02:00] I had no idea that it was real. I didn't

[02:02] think anything like that would happen on

[02:04] campus.

[02:06] >> What did you do when you heard that?

[02:11] So when I heard that, I was the only

[02:14] thing that was going on in my head was,

[02:17] "Is there going to be a second shot go

[02:19] off?" So I immediately ducked down as

[02:22] everyone else was saying. Um, wrapped my

[02:25] arm around my friend to protect her like

[02:28] that would do anything. But um, I

[02:31] started running back towards the

[02:33] building behind us. And that was when I

[02:37] started turning back to see if there was

[02:40] anyone that got shot. But unfortunately,

[02:42] my eyesight was too hazy because I was

[02:44] crying so much. So, I couldn't really

[02:46] see anything clearly.

[02:51] >> Were you afraid there would be more

[02:52] gunshots?

[02:55] >> Yes, for sure. Um, I invited my friend

[02:58] to come with me, so I felt responsible

[03:01] for for everything. I was scared that um

[03:04] other people were going to get hurt.

[03:09] >> How close were you to where Charlie Kirk

[03:12] was seated?

[03:16] >> It was maybe about a couple feet away.

[03:19] Um he was on the ground floor and there

[03:22] were steps going up. So I was on the

[03:24] third step away from him.

[03:29] >> You ran into a building. What building?

[03:34] It was near the Keller building. It was

[03:36] towards the business school that we

[03:38] would always go to for our classes.

[03:44] >> When you got into the building, what, if

[03:46] anything, did you learn?

[03:50] >> So, um, that was when we started going

[03:52] in lockdown and I started hearing people

[03:55] calling their families saying that he

[03:57] got shot in the chest, then the neck. I

[04:00] was hearing a bunch of misinformation. I

[04:02] didn't know what was what. Um, and that

[04:05] was also when I heard that the suspect

[04:08] was in custody. So, in that moment, I

[04:10] thought, I'm safe, right? Um, but

[04:13] fortunately, even though that wasn't the

[04:15] right person under custody, um, that was

[04:18] able to keep my mind at ease.

[04:24] >> What does your family have to say about

[04:27] this?

[04:29] Oh my goodness. It's just um it's it's

[04:32] really heartbreaking. Um personally, my

[04:36] family really admired him for what he

[04:39] was doing for the community, expressing

[04:41] his own opinions and um showing others

[04:44] that they can also debate about things

[04:47] that they strongly agree about

[04:49] peacefully. So, we were both really

[04:51] heartbroken. Um I was shaking

[04:53] uncontrollably when I heard the news

[04:55] about his passing and couldn't stop

[04:57] crying.

[05:00] What do they think about the fact that

[05:02] you came so close to being shot

[05:05] yourself? Anyone around the stage close

[05:09] to where Charlie Kirk was sitting could

[05:11] easily have been shot with one gust of

[05:13] wind.

[05:16] >> Oh my goodness. So my dad is away right

[05:19] now and I remember him just telling me

[05:22] that he just is upset, angry that

[05:28] something bad could have happened, that

[05:30] I was there at that event. Anything

[05:33] could have happened really and he is is

[05:37] completely out of his control.

[05:41] >> Tiana, what was the atmosphere there

[05:44] before the shooting?

[05:48] I didn't sense any sort of tension. Um

[05:50] both sides of the political party seemed

[05:53] for the most part really peaceful. I was

[05:56] there an hour early and I didn't see

[05:59] anything um anything to suspect that

[06:03] anything bad was going to happen

[06:04] afterwards.

[06:07] >> You stated before that it was peaceful

[06:11] and quote really happy.

[06:15] Yeah, everyone was really excited to

[06:17] hear the debate. I mean, there was um

[06:20] hyped up music playing. Everyone was

[06:22] cheering. I was getting pretty excited

[06:25] for the whole event as well. I didn't

[06:27] think anything bad was going to happen.

[06:32] >> What was the security like that day?

[06:36] So, I heard previously that there were

[06:38] going to be about eight bodyguards

[06:41] protecting him, and I thought that yeah,

[06:44] that that's probably enough. Um, I

[06:46] thought there was also going to be some

[06:48] other security measures there. But even

[06:50] me who signed up to for the event was

[06:54] able to walk in freely. There was

[06:56] someone that approached me giving me a

[06:58] flyer saying that there's going to be

[07:00] event today. Do you know what this is?

[07:02] And I said, yeah, I do know what this

[07:03] is. I actually signed up for it. So, I

[07:07] went right through. No one checked my

[07:09] bags. There was no one at the doors

[07:11] checking who was going into the

[07:13] courtyard. Absolutely no security

[07:15] measures were taken.

[07:16] >> Tiana Laauo joining us who was there

[07:20] just feet away from Charlie Kirk when he

[07:23] was shot. One gust of wind, one dust

[07:27] particle in the the killer's eye at the

[07:30] time he pulled the trigger. It could

[07:32] have been her and her friend.

[07:35] What say you

[07:38] to the people that are celebrating a

[07:41] murder, laughing about it, making fun of

[07:44] it, writing cartoons about it?

[07:49] >> Yes, I have many friends from both sides

[07:52] of political parties, right? And but

[07:55] this doesn't excuse any action to take

[07:58] just because you don't have the same

[08:00] opinion as someone. Um my friend is an

[08:03] international student. She came here

[08:05] looking for a better education and the

[08:08] fact that she had to witness this just

[08:10] says a lot about community right now.

[08:15] >> How has this affected you Tiana?

[08:19] Um, I believe it has definitely affected

[08:22] me um, negatively. Um, it it took a huge

[08:26] toll on me once I heard about his

[08:28] passing. I didn't think anything bad was

[08:30] really going to happen. Um, so this is

[08:35] definitely something that I'm going to

[08:36] remember long term. Um, that ringing in

[08:39] my ears of the gunshot going off,

[08:43] everyone ducking down. It's really a

[08:45] terrifying experience. I'm never going

[08:47] to be able to forget