A wedding photographer was hit with a gun during a photo session in front of newlyweds in a brazen attempted robbery in broad daylight at the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts.
The horrifying scene caught on video unfolded last week in front of dozens of witnesses and was captured by a subject using his cell phone.
In the footage, two armed men, masked and dressed in black, can be seen pushing the photographer, pointing a gun at his face and demanding that he hand over his expensive equipment, the video shows.
The photographer refuses to hand over his equipment and as he tries to escape, he is pistol-whipped by the suspects. Here the images of the brazen assault attempt:
The attempted robbery unsettled the bride, groom and others in the quaint green space.
The groom can be seen raising his hands asking the men not to shoot as his new wife appears to be crying. After forcing the photographer to the ground, the two gunmen left empty-handed and appeared to get into a white vehicle, according to the video.
The photographer is from Dallas and was taking the Bay Area couple’s wedding photos at the Palace of Fine Arts just after they certified their marriage at City Hall, according to KGO-TV.
The photographer, a new father, said he was not thinking carefully about the possible consequences as he fought off his attackers.
“I was scared. I tried to protect the client’s memories. The girlfriend was crying the whole time,” he told the outlet anonymously.
Said will never film at the Palacio de Bellas Artes again after the incident, and suggested that the couples find a different location for their wedding photos.
According to CBS, the venue, which is a hot spot for wedding photos, is widely known for carjackings with warning signs posted throughout the area asking people not to leave valuables in their vehicles.
Just hours before the Dallas photographer was attacked, another wedding photographer at the Palace witnessed another robbery at gunpoint.
Both incidents have been reported to the San Francisco Police Department, but no additional details have been released.