Photo looks to capture the path of a bullet used in Trump assassination attempt

Transcript

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

And now back to the other major story involving former President Trump which happened over the weekend, before today's major news about the classified documents case against him being dismissed. We mean, of course, the assassination attempt on Trump at Saturday's rally in Pennsylvania. During that rally, New York Times photographer Doug Mills was near the stage. He was one of several photographers taking up-close shots of the moment. He told us about his experience.

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DOUG MILLS: As the huge flag above his head was blowing in the wind, and he was making remarks and gesturing, and he kind of looked over to his right. And then all of a sudden, there were three, four loud pops.

PFEIFFER: Mills kept on taking pictures.

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MILLS: There was blood on his ear, and then he went down. And I was like, oh, my God, he's been shot.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

For some time, Secret Service agents hid the former president from view.

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MILLS: I looked back towards behind the podium, and they were picking him up. And I thought, oh, my God, he's alive. He's alive. And I could see his hand, and then I saw his face. And then I saw him, you know, put his fist up in the air with blood on his face, and I just could not believe it. I was - you know, my heart was pounding and just, you know, trying to capture the moment.

INSKEEP: A photographer named Evan Vucci captured the now very famous shot of Trump raising his fist as the flag floated in the air above him. Mills captured that moment from a slightly different angle.

PFEIFFER: And not until later did he realize what else his camera had recorded. He uploaded his images for his editor to review. She called him back 5 minutes later.

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MILLS: She said, there's actually a picture with a bullet going behind him. And I said, oh, my God.

SCOTT DETROW: What was your shutter speed?

MILLS: Eight-thousandth of a second.

INSKEEP: Doug Mills talking with our colleague, Scott Detrow, there - eight-thousandth of a second for the shutter speed, fast enough to capture a silvery blur - apparently, the bullet that had just touched the former president. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.