Badger: As the shooter was walking by me, somebody hit him over the back of the head with a folding chair. That's when I realized it was him. And when that happened, he hunched forward, and his left hand came out, and it gave me an opportunity to grab him by the left wrist. I took my right hand and hit the base of his neck. Another individual on the other side did exactly the same thing, and he helped me push him to the ground. I had my left knee on his arm, and with my left hand I got a choke hold on him. The other man got his knee right on the shooter's neck. Every time the shooter would move, I would choke him, and he'd go, "Ow, ow, ow." I said to him, "What in the world would you do something like this for?" He did not answer me.

Hernandez: I got to Ron Barber, Gabby's district director, who'd been standing next to Gabby. He was my boss, and he was injured, shot in the leg, but he was still giving me orders. Ron is an amazing person, and he was yelling at me, "Make sure Gabby's okay." So I told someone how to apply pressure to his wounds. Then I became tunnel-visioned on Gabby. I was trying to get people to step back. The last thing you want for anyone in that position, regardless of whether they're a congresswoman or not, is have them in a vulnerable position with people gawking. People were saying, "What can I do to help?" and I would say, "Are you a doctor?" And if they said no, then, "Stay away." Everyone but Gabby kind of ceased to exist.

On election day 2010, she and I had had a private conversation. It had been a hard campaign—every election that Gabby's had has been tough—and this one, we didn't find out the results for days. But that night, the main thing she said to me was, no matter what happens, we need to make sure that we continue helping others. Even back in November, she always placed the emphasis on trying to help others. So now I was determined to help her.

Maisch: I'm wondering if the bullets are going to ricochet when they hit the concrete and it's going to go in and out of my body. I have all these fast thoughts. But instead of hearing more gunshots, I feel this guy pushed to the ground. He's at an angle right against me. It's the gunman, and his back is to me. He's on his right side. He's touching me. Someone has pushed him down, and people are hollering, "Get the gun, get the gun!"

He's got the gun in his right hand, and I'm behind him, so I cannot reach it. But almost at exactly the same time, they're saying, "Get the clip, get the clip!" Well, the clip, he's pulling it out of his left pocket. And he brings it out along with some other items, and he drops it, and in that second I'm able to grab it.

Badger: It looked like the shooter was reaching for the gun, so another individual reached down and picked it up—just trying to help. But I said, "Drop it! Quick!" because I was afraid someone would think he was the gunner and shoot him. The man dropped it and stood there with his foot on the gun.

Maisch: The gunman had on a stocking cap pulled down low around his eyebrows. He hadn't shaved that morning—he had a little stubble. He was of slight build, but I'm only five foot two, so I moved to sit on his ankles to hold him down. Then I notice that Bill Badger's head is bleeding, and for one second I start to panic. I went, "Oh, my God! Oh, my God, you're bleeding." Then I said to myself, "This is not going to do. You can't panic now." So I said, "Do you want me to get a compress?" and he said, "Yes, please."