(3 of 5)
The four assassins encountered little resistance in the first 50 seconds or so as security men and military police dived for cover. One attacker raced to the right flank of the stand, presumably to pin down Sadat's security detail, and later joined another assailant, who charged straight to the podium, unimpeded. The two men stood on tiptoe against the wall, guns raised above their heads, firing a fusillade of bullets into the tangled melee of bodies and chairs. A third killer ran diagonally to the left side of the dais. The fourth attacker joined the others as they emptied their clips into the throng of wounded and dead.
The assault so stunned most of Sadat's U.S.-trained security men that they failed to respond through much of the attack. Not a single security guard or soldier had been posted between the route of march and the reviewing stand, undoubtedly because no one expected trouble from soldiers on parade who, supposedly, carried no live ammunition. Thus a wide passage was left open that led straight to Sadat. The only shield afforded the President came when several plainclothesmen threw chairs over Sadat in a hopeless bid to save his life. Once the assassins had turned to flee toward the moving truck, the security guards gave chase, firing pistols and automatic rifles. Abu Ghazala, who had received shrapnel cuts in his face and right arm, sought to restore order amid the bloody chaos. "I told everybody to shut up," he said later, "and I ordered the military police to take charge." In the end, fire from the guards killed one of the attackers and wounded the other three.
Amid the screams and shouts of the terrified crowd, Abu Ghazala radioed a military facility near by for a helicopter to pick up the stricken President. It arrived three or four minutes later in an area behind the reviewing stand. Jehan Sadat, who had watched the assault unfold from her box, tried to rush to her husband's side, but was pushed down forcefully by her security guard. She finally reached Sadat's side as he was lifted on a stretcher into the helicopter for the 20-minute flight to Maadi Military Hospital, south of Cairo, where the deposed Shah of Iran had died last year. "I knew he was finished," said Mubarak, who escaped with only cuts on his left hand. "I saw all the blood. I just couldn't believe it."
Nor could the rest of the world, as news of the attack rippled out. In Washington, President Ronald Reagan had just risen when Secretary of State Alexander Haig telephoned him at 7:20 a.m. local time to relay word from the U.S. embassy in Cairo that there had been a shooting incident involving Sadat. Reagan was relieved when he was told that the embassy believed Sadat was only slightly injured. Reagan immediately cabled a personal message to Sadat, offering his prayers and assurances that "we stand ready to assist in any way we can, including the provision of medical assistance to any of those wounded in this despicable attack."