to your perch, where you were. give us what happened in this moment. >> is that more gunfire? can we have the helmets? where is the helmet? [ shots ] >> you hear a distinct crack which is indicative of proximity. zain, what do you know happened at that time and i imagine you ducked down pretty quick? >> reporter: there was a gunfire exchange between the militants and the security forces in there. it was sporadic but it was intense. we all ran and took cover behind the cars here and a lot of people just fled in the opposite direction and ran. i talked to some security officials who said that sounded to them like clearing shots, the way that they would operate when they were to clear a room.