“The event was routine enough — the opening of an exhibit of photographs of Russia — and when a man on stage pulled out a gun I thought it was a theatrical flourish,” Ozbilici recalled in a first-person account published on APNews.com. “It was anything but. Moments later the Russian ambassador was sprawled on the floor and the attacker was waving his gun at the rest of us, shouting slogans.”

He continued: “Guests ran for cover, hiding behind columns and under tables. I composed myself enough to shoot pictures.”

