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Gotbaum Had Front-Row View Of City Hall Shooting

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Feb 4, 2006 12:21 am US/Eastern

Gotbaum Had Front-Row View Of City Hall Shooting

Public Advocate Reviews Tape Of Incident With CBS 2

by Andrew Kirtzman
NEW YORK (CBS) ― It's a routine start to a City Council hearing. The Public Advocate, Betsy Gotbaum, is getting ready to preside. Councilman Simcha Felder has a chat with a deputy clerk, Vincent Bonavita.

Then, gunshots.

The date was July 23, 2003, the day Councilman James Davis was gunned down inside City Hall by political rival Othniel Askew.

On Friday, Gotbaum re-lived those moments with CBS 2.

"We heard the popping and the parliamentarian on my left said it must be some sort of an act," Gotbaum said. "And the popping kept going and I just remember thinking, 'oh my gosh, duck down.'"

As the video shows, the Council photographer, Dan Luhmann, springs into action as officer Richard Burt, off-camera, fires shots at the assailant. Most duck for cover. Councilman Felder crouches behind the clerk's table.

On the video, a voice is heard screaming out, "It's in the balcony!"

Bonavita tries desperately to warn people where the assassin's shots have come from. Few in this room know whether the shooter is dead, or still alive and dangerous. Even fewer realize that his victim is Councilman Davis.

"It was complete confusion," Gotbaum said. "They knew something happened in balancy, but nobody knew what happened."

Gotbaum was worried about a half-dozen interns from her office who were in the balcony near Davis.

"When I heard them yelling 'it's in the balcony, it's in the balcony,' I was concerned about the kids up there," she said. "You know, they're young kids."

Fortunately, none were hurt, but for Gotbaum the memories are still vivid three years later.

"Every time I go through the chambers of the City Council I remember it," she said. "You just remember it. You remember that feeling."

(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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