went to a lecture in a fairly large auditorium with old-ish seats that had cheap wood veneer, no idea what the topic was about but my boss was there seated next to me taking notes… so it would’ve been work related and entirely benign. I’m sitting at the end of the row. Anyway, out of the blue someone yells “GET DOWN” - split seconds before the heart stopping sound of a gunshot - and then a whole lot of screaming and scrambling as everyone is crouched on the floor or bent over.

I hear a soft slide and thud, and a man of African origin - Somali perhaps - lies dead, sprawled over a couple of empty seats just two seats away from my boss and me. People are curious and get up slightly for a better view but multiple voices ring out again: “GET DOWN!!!” Stomp stomp stomp stomp stomp. A herd of SWAT police materialise as if they’ve been there the whole time, they yell “CLEAR” to each other and a pair jog over to where I am, everyone else still frozen in terror, pindrop silent. One of the men looks around, looks at the body, makes a hand signal, and a very calm male voice immediately comes on the PA system asking us to please exit the hall in an orderly fashion. Voices rise again as everyone starts to make sense of it all, but staff and police start guiding the masses out. The SWAT guy asks my boss and I to stay behind while other police rush in to cordon off the dead body (where did they come from???), and as I try to put myself together I notice…

The dead body has bright orange blood. Boss and I look at each other with the same face of horror and bewilderment and in that moment we’re all just humans going what the fuck.