Gunfire at the Newseum — Gina's Scream
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Chaos erupts as Gina shouts 'GUN!'—shooters open fire from the office building, turning the scene into a deadly massacre.
Secret Service agents scramble to protect the president and staff—gunfire, screams, and shattered glass dominate as victims lie motionless.
The scene ends in unresolved horror—agents call out for casualties while gunfire echoes and the screen fades to black.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Hyper-focused, adrenaline-driven; professional calm in action but under high stress.
Perimeter Secret Service agents are depicted shoving principals into limos, returning fire toward the office window shooters, restraining bystanders (including Leo), and inadvertently colliding with staff like C.J.; they act as the operational arm of the protective response.
- • Suppress and neutralize the shooters
- • Extract and shield protected principals
- • Control the immediate physical scene to limit further casualties
- • Believes force is necessary to stop active shooters
- • Believes containment and extraction are top priorities even at the cost of property or comfort
Alarmed and disoriented, immediately shifting toward concern for safety of principals and media control.
Standing near the gate next to Sam, C.J. is knocked into and brought to the ground by an agent during the scramble; she is tossed from a public-relations posture into immediate physical vulnerability.
- • Protect herself and nearby colleagues
- • Preserve the President's safety and, later, control the messaging
- • Believes physical safety takes precedence over public messaging until threat is neutralized
- • Believes she'll need to manage fallout once the immediate danger ends
Shock and sudden disorientation, quickly replaced by the instinct to take cover and assist where possible.
Turning with Gina to see what she spotted, Charlie is suddenly shoved/knocked to the ground by Gina beside the limo and ends up prone amid the chaos, stunned and temporarily incapacitated as agents return fire and patrons flee.
- • Get himself and nearby principals out of harm's way
- • Regain situational awareness to help in extraction or first aid
- • Trusts Secret Service directives implicitly
- • Assumes rapid compliance with protective actions will reduce casualties
Shock and rapid adaptation; momentarily stunned then yielding to protection protocols.
Working the ropeline happily one moment and then physically grabbed/pulled down by agents and shoved into a limo for shelter, Bartlet becomes an object of extraction rather than a performer.
- • Ensure his own safety and that of his family
- • Allow trained agents to handle the tactical response
- • Trusts the protective detail's judgment
- • Believes visible calm helps prevent further panic
Panicked beneath a surface of procedural control; fear mixed with professional concern for consequences.
Caught on the ground at the bottom of the gate during the shooting, Toby is immobilized momentarily, likely disoriented and attempting to understand both the tactical and personal stakes (his brother being elsewhere in the episode).
- • Protect himself and find loved ones or staff members
- • Rapidly recover composure to be useful after the immediate threat
- • Believes order and information are necessary to handle crises
- • Believes his role will soon shift to communications and meaning-making
Terrified, confused, and reliant on the agents protecting her; shock mingled with instinctive cling to safety.
Chatting and playful moments earlier, Zoey is suddenly yanked down and shoved into the limo by Gina, physically shielded from the gunfire and thrown into protective cover while crying and disoriented.
- • Survive the sudden attack
- • Stay close to or find reassurance from her father and protectors
- • Believes Secret Service will protect her
- • Believes proximity to her father matters for safety
Blunt urgency underpinned by fear; angry at danger but focused on managing immediate consequences.
Being physically restrained onto the ground by Secret Service agents while shouting 'stay down!', Leo attempts to enforce order and keep principals and staff safe amid the chaos.
- • Keep staff and the President down and safe
- • Ensure protective protocols are followed during the attack
- • Believes compliance with protective orders reduces casualties
- • Believes decisive leadership prevents disorder after the initial chaos
Terrified, confused, and desperate for safety; emotions shift quickly between shock and frantic self-preservation.
Passersby and onlookers at the rope line collectively scream, scramble for cover, some are knocked or shot down — the crowd becomes both victims and propulsive force for the agents' protective actions.
- • Survive the shooting
- • Help the wounded if possible and get out of the danger zone
- • Believes authority figures (agents, police) can and will protect them
- • Believes panic increases risk but is hard to suppress under fire
Controlled urgency giving way to adrenaline-fueled protectiveness; outwardly focused and professional with underlying alarm.
Scans the ropeline, identifies a suspicious backpack and a man staring at an upstairs window, reports via wrist mike, then abruptly yells 'GUN!', physically knocks Charlie down, pulls and shoves Zoey into the limo and shields her while directing others to get down.
- • Immediately protect principal(s) (Zoey, Bartlet) from gunfire
- • Alert and cue other protective agents to neutralize the threat
- • Move vulnerable people to available cover (the limo)
- • Immediate, physical intervention saves lives
- • Suspicious behavior adjacent to the ropeline indicates an imminent threat
- • Her authority and training permit overriding civilian proximity for protection
Horror and dread, with the mind racing toward the political and human fallout.
Joshua looks behind the gates in horror as the shooting erupts; he is a shocked witness rather than an immediate actor in the physical extraction but is viscerally affected by the violence.
- • Ensure the safety of colleagues and principals
- • Begin mentally triaging communications and political consequences
- • Believes such an attack will have immediate political repercussions
- • Believes rapid coordination and messaging will be required after the physical crisis
Coldly aggressive, focused on executing the attack with lethal intent.
A group of skinhead gunmen in the office window load rifles and ammunition, then raise and fire into the Newseum ropeline crowd, creating the central lethal threat to which agents and bystanders must respond.
- • Inflict casualties and terror upon the public and targeted principals
- • Escape or maintain position to continue firing as long as possible
- • Believes violence advances their cause or sends a political message
- • Believes anonymity in a windowed position provides tactical advantage
Surprised and fearful, quickly replaced by protective instinct for colleagues.
In mid-conversation, Sam tackles or falls into C.J., pulling both to the ground as a limo window shatters in front of them — an instinctive protective move amid the exploding violence.
- • Physically shield peers (C.J.)
- • Stay close to the President's team to assist after the attack
- • Believes immediate physical intervention can reduce casualties
- • Believes colleagues must be kept safe to preserve institutional continuity
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Boxes and a backpack of ammunition are shown in the office window as operators transfer rounds into rifles — a narrative prop that supplies the shooters, proving premeditation and materially enabling the attack.
The presidential limousine functions as immediate refuge and extraction vehicle: agents shove principals toward it, Zoey is pushed into it for protection, and a nearby limo window shatters, visually marking its role as both shelter and battlefield prop.
The ropeline and stanchions — the event's physical boundary — serve as both stage and vulnerability: attendees lean on it until it becomes a flimsy barrier people scramble past or dive behind when bullets begin to fall.
The suspicious bookbag, noticed by Gina, functions as a focal clue — its possession by a man at the ropeline heightens suspicion and helps justify immediate protective attention toward that individual and the adjoining window.
The 'Bartlet' ball cap is knocked off the creepy boy, revealing his shaven head — the cap's removal transforms a benign political prop into a revealing prop that visually implicates the wearer and escalates agent suspicion.
The alley-facing office window functions practically as the shooters' aperture: it frames the attackers, allows them to sight the ropeline, and becomes the locus from which bullets rain down on the crowd below.
A police cruiser is present as environmental prop and collateral object: its top and light are struck during the melee, its light shatters, adding to the wreckage and soundscape that amplify chaos and indicate municipal responder presence.
The police car lightbar shatters during the shooting sequence, scattering shards and briefly continuing to blink erratically — a sensory punctuation that heightens the scene's violence and signals institutional collapse into emergency mode.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The adjacent federal office building (anonymous) across the alleyis used as the shooters' staging area: ordinary office space is converted into a predatory firing platform, holding ammunition and armed men preparing to fire down on civilians.
The Newseum exterior is the public forum and performance stage where the President works the rope line; it becomes the battleground when gunfire turns civic spectacle into a mass‑casualty incident.
A specific Newseum office window functions as the shooters' firing aperture: it frames the attackers, focuses their aim on the ropeline, and becomes the clear origin for agents' retaliatory fire and later investigation.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
No narrative connections mapped yet
This event is currently isolated in the narrative graph
Key Dialogue
"GINA: He's not working the rope line. [into wrist mike] Straight to the car. I've got Bookbag."
"GINA: GUN!"
"AGENTS (VO): Oh, god, we've got people down. People down, people down! Who's been hit? Who's been hit?"