How difficult it is to take a photo of the bullet that passed through Mr.Trump head

“Capturing the moment the bullet is on the flight path like in the photo is almost impossible, even if you know the bullet is coming,” said a former FBI agent.

In the chaos at the Pennsylvania campaign, New York Times photojournalist Doug Mills captured a rare moment, just as former US President Donald Trump was attacked.

The photo shows a bullet flying through the former US president’s cheek as he is addressing a crowd.

A single moment in a million shots

That’s the assessment of Michael Harrigan, a former FBI agent with 22 years of experience. Before retiring, he led the FBI’s gun training unit and is now an adviser in the firearms industry.

“The image captures the movement of the air as the bullet flies horizontally,” Harrigan said in an interview on July 14, after reviewing high-resolution images taken by Mills.

“The angle of the shot seems a little low, indicating that the bullet went through the ear, but it is not impossible to take a good shot if the shooter fired multiple shots,” the agent added.

According to him, if you just calculate a simple flight path, people will think that it is possible to capture a bullet like Mills in the photo.

Photojournalist Mills uses a Sony digital camera, which can take photos at a maximum speed of 30 frames per second. Donald Trump’s photo was taken at a shutter speed of 1/8,000th of a second – which is extremely fast compared to a normal photo.

A series of cold photos of the bullet flying past Donald Trump. Photo: Doug Mills/New York Times.

But the other factor that determines the success or failure of the photo is the bullet speed. At the scene, law enforcement recovered an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle from a man who was killed, believed to be the gunman who assassinated Trump.

“If the shooter uses an AR-15 rifle, a 0.223 or 5.56 mm caliber bullet will travel at 975 m/s when it leaves the muzzle. So, with a shutter speed of 1/8,000th of a second on the camera, the bullet will travel about 12 centimeters during the shutter open,” Harrigan said.

FBI agents said that most of the cameras used to photograph flying bullets are extremely high-speed cameras. They are not used for photography during normal events.

“Therefore, catching a bullet right on the flight path like in the photo is a one-in-a-million moment and is almost impossible even if you know the bullet is coming,” Harrigan concluded.

What did the owner of the photo say?

In an interview, New York Times photojournalist Doug Mills recounted the process of creating his “million times one” photo. He was just a few steps away from former President Donald Trump when the shooting began. “We were all jostling in the area near Trump to try to get normal photos,” Mills said.

Suddenly, he heard 3-4 loud explosions. “At first, I thought it was the sound of cars. Eventually, I realized it was gunshots. But I still continue to take pictures,” the reporter said. After that, Trump hugged his ears and bent down to the ground. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, what’s going on?'” Mills said.

Immediately, agents began running onto the stage, surrounding and escorting the former President off the stage. In their hands were automatic rifles. “I went from one side of the stage to see if I could see him better. That’s when Trump got up and raised his fist to the sky. I thought, ‘He’s alive, he’s alive,'” the reporter recalled.

Doug Mills (center), wearing a brimmed hat and blue shirt, near the front of the stage where Trump spoke. Photo: Eric Lee/New York Times.

“I could see the blood on his face and still keep taking pictures. In the fist-raising photo, Trump looks very tough and defiant, but in the next frame I took, he looks completely exhausted. The look on his face was very, very shocked,” Mills reported.

When Donald Trump walked down the stairs, Secret Service agents surrounded the former president, forming a human shield, protecting him all the way to the SUV to leave.

“I turned around, saw people screaming and heard someone being shot in the crowd. They kept us at the scene for about 30 minutes. When we walked out, we saw a sprawling scene, full of plastic bottles, mobile phones, a wheelchair that had just been left behind,” he said.

Although he has experience photographing presidents since 1983, he never imagined that he would find himself in this situation. “I was always afraid that one day I would fall into this situation. I always wondered what I would do when I encountered it. I hope I can take the photo of a lifetime and hope I don’t get shot,” he said.

At the campaign rally on July 13 (local time), Doug Mills initially thought, “Have I ever been shot?” At that time, his emotions were very scared. “I’ve never been in a more horrific scene than that. Even though I’ve been reporting on presidents for the past 40 years, I don’t want to see this spectacle,” Mills said.

At the back of the stands, many Trump employees cried. “I get a lot of hugs and say, ‘I’m glad we’re okay.’ I never imagined I would be in a situation like this,” the photojournalist said.