(CNN) -- The photographer who took images of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto moments before her assassination Thursday told CNN he was "surprised" to see her rise through the sunroof of her vehicle to wave to supporters after delivering her speech."I ran up, got as close as I got, made a few pictures of her waving to the crowd," Getty Images senior staff photographer John Moore told CNN's online streaming news service, CNN.com Live, in a phone interview Thursday from Islamabad, Pakistan. "And then suddenly, there were a few gunshots that rang out, and she went down, she went down through the sunroof," he said. "And just at that moment I raised my camera up and the blast happened.
Moore said he was about 20 yards away from Bhutto's vehicle when he took his photographs. Bhutto was rushed to Rawalpindi General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Moore said he had been following Bhutto's story since her return to Pakistan in October. He was present October 19 when a terror attack targeting her motorcade in Karachi killed 136 people. In the aftermath of that attack, "the rallies had been very small," because of high security, Moore said.
However, the Rawalpindi rally was announced beforehand, he observed. "Whoever planned this attack -- they had time on their hands to plan everything properly, and you saw the results today," he said.
Between 5,000 and 8,000 were at the Rawalpindi rally, which was held at a parkground, he said. "We [the news media] all expected it to be filled ... but there were less people there than most of us expected to see," he said. "When I talked with a number of people, they said that people were just afraid to come out, for the simple reason that they all remembered what happened in Karachi."
Moore said he himself expected there could be another attack following the Karachi massacre. He said he stayed away from gates at the Rawalpindi parkground, where police were searching people, because he suspected that's where a bomb would go off.
Moore said it was obvious that Bhutto enjoyed being with her supporters. "She was clearly in her element," he said. "She just wanted to get close to the people, and obviously whoever was after her -- they saw that coming."
| The photographer has an audio report with a slideshow of his images here. Ghastly. |