Father Recounts Traumatic Experience During Charlie Kirk Shooting Incident

Witnessing the Shooting Incident

• 🎯 Elliot Thorne, a fan of Charlie Kirk, was approximately 8 feet from the stage, waiting to ask questions, when the shooting occurred.
• 👶 Thorne's wife, Maddie, asked him to take care of their son, moving them about 15 feet from the stage.
• ⚡ The incident happened during the second question of the Q&A, which was about transgender issues and gun violence.

Immediate Aftermath and Fear

• ⏱️ A brief 3-second pause followed the question, during which the shot was heard, described as sounding distant.
• 🤕 Thorne observed the bullet hitting and exiting Charlie Kirk's neck, noting a gruesome scene as Kirk was carried away.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 In the chaos, Thorne's primary thought was his family's safety, with his wife screaming to grab the children.

Parental Protection and Trauma

• 🛡️ Thorne instinctively lay on top of his son and wife, praying to be hit instead of his child if it was a mass shooting.
• 🏃‍♂️ After the shooting stopped, the family, including Thorne's father-in-law and wife, huddled by a cement wall before running to safety.
• 📺 The experience of witnessing a shooting in real life was described as vastly different and more terrifying than seeing it on TV.

Broader Societal Concerns

• 💔 Thorne expressed that the event was an extremely traumatic experience and not a political agenda, but a reflection of a larger mental, spiritual, and emotional crisis in the country.
• 🗣️ He emphasized that no father should fear for their child's life at a university event and hoped for serious consideration and healing from the administration.