Tom Fox is a photojournalist at The Dallas Morning News who continued to snap photos after finding himself in a dangerously close encounter with a gunman who opened fire outside of a Dallas federal building Monday.
Fox was standing outside of the Earle Cabell Federal Building as he waited to cover a trial when 22-year-old Army veteran Brian Clyde opened fire.
Fox snapped photos of Clyde as he found himself just feet away from his high-powered rifle. Clyde was later fatally shot by federal agents. Only one person was injured while running for cover.
Fox took a photo showing Clyde wearing a face mask and carrying a large rifle and wearing a utility belt.
DMN staff photographer @TomFoxPhoto captured this image shortly before a gunman opened fire on the Earle Cabell Federal Building Monday morning in downtown Dallas. Fox was waiting to enter the building to cover a trial when the attack took place. t.co/y8fWYYuKjs
Fox was later photographed hiding behind a column in front of the building just steps away from the unwitting gunman.
Fox waited until officers took down the gunman and followed the officers to snap more photos of the deceased gunman.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Tom Fox Took Photo of The Gunman After Finding Himself Just Feet Away
Fox was waiting outside the Earle Cabell Federal Building on Monday morning to cover a trial when he heard gunshots.
“I heard a bang-bang-bang car-backfiring noise and I thought, ‘Could it be? Is this a shooting’?” Fox told The Dallas Morning News.
Fox immediately crouched with his camera on the sidewalk and began taking photos of people fleeing the scene, even as bullets ricocheted off the wall above him.
“So I pulled up my long lens and saw someone who I realized was the shooter,” he recalled. “And I think, ‘Oh my God.’ I squeezed off a few frames as he picked something up — a clip, I think — and then I turned and ran.”
2. Fox Made Himself ‘As Small As Possible’ to Avoid Being Detected
WFAA viewer Tim Brown recorded this video from a shooting outside the Earle Cabell Federal Building #WFAA
Fox hid behind a building column to avoid being detected by the shooter. Fox said he “made myself as small as possible.”
“I just stood there and prayed that he wouldn’t walk past me,” Fox said. “Because if he walks past me and sees me, he’s going to shoot me. He’s already got the gun out.
“I was just praying, ‘please don’t pass me, please don’t pass me,'” he added.
I absolutely cannot believe how close the Dallas shooter was to @TomFoxPhoto today. So glad Tom escaped ok.
The gunman instead fired at the building’s glass doorway at the security guards inside, The Morning News reported. The gunman then turned and began to fire at what Fox believed to be police officers getting ready at the end of the building. Two of the bullets hit the wall just feet from Fox.
“I’ll never forget the sound of those repeated firing and all that glass shattering. It seemed like forever before I heard return gunfire,” he said.
The gunman then ran and Fox said he came out of hiding when he saw officers running toward that direction.
3. Fox Went Right Back to Work After The Terrifying Incident
After coming out of hiding, Fox followed three of the officers across the street into a parking lot where he realized officers had taken down the gunman.
Fox continued taking photos as police examined the body and removed the man’s mask.
“And he was just so young. All I could think was ‘why?’ There’s just too many questions I haven’t processed yet,” Fox said. “But this young man, what was it all for? Was it really worth it — for this?”
Fox continued to snap photos as he was interviewed by law enforcement agents.
“Your journalistic instincts just kick in,” he said. “You use the camera almost as a shield. I also felt a journalistic duty to do all that.”
Afterward, he returned to the newsroom where he edited his photos and worked with editors on the coverage. He told a colleague that “if you stay in this business long enough, you’re bound to get shot at.”
Fox said he had to “put this on the shelf and process it later.”
“For now, it’s about telling this story right,” he added.
4. Fox Has Worked for the Dallas Morning News for 29 Years
Fox has worked as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News for 29 years, according to the outlet.
Fox, who is originally from Austin, Minnesota, previously worked as a staff photographer for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and was the photo editor and chief photographer for The Arlington Morning News, according to his official bio.
He earned graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts.
Fox said in his official bio that his daughter is studying art in hopes of pursuing still and video photography.
5. Fox Previously Won a Pulitzer Prize for Coverage of Hurricane Katrina
Fox was part of the Dallas Morning News team that won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for their coverage of Hurricane Katrina.
Fox was also named the Photojournalist of the Year by the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors.
He was also honored as Star Photographer of the Year by the Texas Headliner’s Foundation.
“Over the years, I’ve received accolades from POYi, NPPA’s Best of Photojournalism and National Headliners Foundation,” he wrote in his bio.
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