20152: (Hermantin) Sun-Sentinel-Photojournalist says piercing bullet `like being hit with a sledge hammer

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Photojournalist says piercing bullet `like being hit with a sledge hammer'

By Jonathon King
Staff Writer
Posted March 9 2004

The sudden crack of close gunfire, shouts in Creole from police, warnings in
English from fellow journalists and then a slam of pain from a bullet
piercing his shoulder.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel photojournalist Michael Laughlin was able to tell
his own story of Haitian chaos Monday from Jackson Memorial Hospital in
Miami a day after being airlifted from Port-au-Prince with a bullet still
buried in his shoulder.


At least five people were killed Sunday when gunmen opened fire on a large
demonstration calling for the prosecution of ousted President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide.

The afternoon attack on thousands of demonstrators in front of Haiti's
National Palace, the worst since Aristide resigned and fled the country on
Feb. 29, showed again the depth of the conflict between rebels and
pro-Aristide gunmen in the chaotic country.

As the crowd massed, the first shot rang out and one of the protesters fell.
A squad of police officers then began shooting back and bystanders got
caught in the crossfire.

A photograph taken from across the street shows Laughlin standing at the end
of a line of armed officers. Later, he crossed the street and joined the
group of journalists. When gunfire erupted, "he said it felt like he was hit
with a sledge hammer," said Laughlin's wife, Kathy, from Jackson Memorial
Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center, where her husband was being treated late
Monday afternoon.

The bullet, still buried in Laughlin's shoulder, fractured his scapula.
Doctors were still considering surgery late Monday to remove that bullet and
planned additional tests. Laughlin, who was admitted into the hospital, also
took one graze wound to the cheek and another to his neck as fellow
journalists dragged him into a small house along the street for cover.
Another photographer in the group, José Ricardo Ortega, a New York-based
correspondent for the Spanish TV network Antena 3, was fatally wounded in
the courtyard just outside the home.

"I feel lucky, very lucky," said Laughlin. "Everybody down the line took
excellent care of me. From the photographers on the ground to the Haitians
who hid us in their house and the French and U.S. Marines who got me home."

After the shooting, Miami Herald photographer Peter Andrew Bosch used
Laughlin's cell phone to call the Sun-Sentinel photo desk in Fort Lauderdale
while the photographers were still in the house.

"Peter basically told us Michael had been injured, but he was OK and they
were trying to get an ambulance to transport him out," said Sun-Sentinel
Director of Photography Tim Rasmussen. "That's when we started trying to get
an air transport to fly him out of the country."

An ambulance arrived later, and Laughlin, Ortega and other wounded civilians
were taken to nearby Canape Vert Hospital. By coordinating with the U.S.
State Department and military officials on the ground in Haiti, the
Sun-Sentinel made arrangements to fly the veteran journalist by military
transport to Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba. He was treated there by a Navy
doctor before being transported by an air ambulance to Miami on Monday
afternoon.

Laughlin, who has worked at the newspaper since 1998, went to Haiti last
Friday with reporter Sandra Hernandez. It was his second trip to the country
since tensions began to build there in February. An award-winning
photojournalist, Laughlin has been on assignment in the Philippines and
Brazil, was on the doorstep of Elián González's Miami home the night Elian
was swept away by U.S. Customs agents, and had covered the clashes between
demonstrators and police during the recent FTAA meetings in Miami.

"Mike is an experienced street photographer who knows his way around a
volatile situation," said Sun-Sentinel Editor Earl Maucker. "We always
consider the safety of our staff to be our No. 1 priority. They're
professionals who use their experience and their judgment to make decisions
on the ground. We're very relieved that Michael's going to be all right and
though we will continue to assess the safety of our journalists, this won't
diminish our coverage of this very important story."

Jonathon King can be reached at jking@sun-sentinel.com or at 954 356-4691.
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VIDEO



South Florida Sun-Sentinel photojournalist Michael Laughlin talks about his
experience
Mar 9, 2004

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