The son of an Austin couple witnessed the shooting in front of the White House on Wednesday.

Thursday, February 08, 2001

The son of an Austin couple witnessed the shooting in front of the White House on Wednesday.

Wallace Alcorn said that his son, Stephen Alcorn, an assistant district attorney in Oklahoma City, Okla., was on duty in Washington as an Army Reserve officer.

Stephen Alcorn’s wife passed this account on to his family here in Austin:

"Stephen was walking toward the White House (in uniform) and noticed a man 50 meters ahead in a baseball cap and jacket. The distance between them closed to 25 meters when three shots were fired, which Stephen recognized as coming from a 9mm handgun.

"He hit the ground and didn’t see what the shots were being aimed at.

"A woman was standing around and not responding to Stephen’s warning to get down so he pulled her down. The Park Service and Secret Service moved in from behind Stephen with guns drawn. At some point, they moved Stephen back, and then they fired the shot that hit the gunman.

"The head of Park Service asked Stephen for a statement, which he gave in detail, and after the guy found out he was an ADA, he got to stay at the front line of the activities.

"Because he was in uniform and ducking out of the scheduled morning events, he avoided the media. He was the closest eyewitness and probably will be a key witness in the U.S. Attorney’s prosecution. He says you can plainly see him in the CNN video coverage."