Nine News US correspondent Lauren Tomasi has opened up about being shot by a rubber bullet while covering the protests in Los Angeles yesterday.
Nine News US correspondent Lauren Tomasi was hit by a rubber bullet while reporting on protests and riots in Los Angeles.Credit: Nine News
While reporting live outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service in front of a line of police, an officer appeared to turn and fire a bullet at her leg, causing her to yelp in pain.
“I have a bit of a bloody big old bruise and it’s a little bit sore, but I am all okay,” she said on Nine’s Today Show this morning.
“It’s a really crappy thing that’s happened. But I really don’t want to be the story … it’s a really chaotic situation that’s unfolding in Los Angeles.”
Tomasi said she and the cameraman went live around 5am LA time after “thousands of protesters” appeared on the street.
“We felt that presence of the LAPD and law enforcement really ramp up and [we] went live … police started pushing their way up the street. They’d begun firing tear gas canisters and those rubber bullets, and we moved on to the sidewalk, really tried to stay out of the way,” she said.
“I was really focused on the camera and was finishing that report … and I got hit. [Cameraman] Jimmy scooped me up and we made our way out of there as quickly as possible. It was a bit of a shock.”
US President Donald Trump didn’t respond to the Herald’s questions about the incident. The LA Police Department is expected to issue a statement later today.
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