NPR's Chicago gun violence report interrupted by semi-automatic rifle fire: 'Oh my, Jesus!'

An NPR report on gun violence turned into an actual shooting scene this week when a man with a semi-automatic rifle opened fire near where reporter David Schaper was conducting an interview.

According to NPR, Schaper had been in Chicago to learn about Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to record every gun purchase on video, and limit purchases to one gun per customer.

Kids were getting out of school as Schaper was interviewing community activist and blogger Asiaha Butler on her porch in the city's South Side.

But the interview had to be abruptly halted when a man with a semi-automatic weapon began shooting.

"Oh my, Jesus!" Butler exclaimed as the shooting began.

"About 30 or 40 yards away, a man is standing outside of a car firing a large semi-automatic rifle at a target around the corner we cannot see," Schaper recalled. "Asiaha pushes the little girl indoors and some people duck down and scurry, while some of us just watch in bewilderment — while the shooter gets back into his car and drives down the street right in our direction."

Police later determined that the man had been firing at a van, and at least one person was injured.

"Police say it was found at a nearby hospital with bullet holes on all four sides, though some could have been from shots that went all the way through," Schaper reported. "One passenger in the van, a 28 year old male, was hit - the bullet lodged in his head just behind his ear."

Police described the injuries as "serious," and said that the victim refused to cooperate with the investigation.

Minutes later, an ice cream truck passed by, which Schaper said "made all the more surreal" the shooting scene.

A Florida sheriff’s news conference on gun violence was also interrupted by gunfire last week.

Listen to the audio report below from NPR's Morning Edition, May 29, 2014.

[Man holding assault rifle via Shutterstock]