Photographer Who Captured the Rally Shooting: ‘I Just Kept Doing My Job’

On Saturday night, at a rally in Pennsylvania, a man fired multiple shots at former President Donald J. Trump, who was onstage addressing the crowd. Mr. Trump was safe though injured after the shooting, but one spectator was killed and at least two others were critically injured. The Secret Service said the gunman was dead.

Doug Mills, a New York Times photographer who has documented every president since Ronald Reagan, was at the rally as part of a small pool of photographers taking pictures in a buffer area near the stage.

Mr. Mills was just feet in front of Mr. Trump when he heard a few loud pops.

Members of the Secret Service rushed the stage, covering Mr. Trump. And as those around him dropped to the ground, Mr. Mills kept clicking the shutter button on his Sony digital camera, which can take 30 frames per second. “I could see blood on his face,” Mr. Mills told the Times reporter Victor Mather on the night of the rally. “I kept taking pictures.”

Those pictures, including one that a former F.B.I. special agent says shows the path of a bullet flying past Mr. Trump’s head (the F.B.I. has yet to confirm what struck Mr. Trump), have populated news reports, filled social media feeds and informed an anxious nation.

In an interview with Times Insider on Sunday, Mr. Mills reflected on his experience. Here is the edited and condensed conversation.

According to a retired F.B.I. special agent, one of your photos may have captured a bullet’s path. You also took photos of Mr. Trump grabbing his ear. When did you know something was wrong?