The assailant, who was identified as Naveed Ahmad, had shot the PTI chief when the long march caravan reached Wazirabad, injuring him in his leg. It was alter learned that one by-stander was killed, while 14 others were injured as a result of the spray of bullets.
In new videos released of the assailant while in police custody reveal that he had shared many videos of conservative Islamic scholar Dr. Israr, as well as of far-right Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) leader Saad Hussain Rizvi. Naveed said that he would share the videos that he liked, claiming that this is what social media was for. "This is what social media and Facebook is like; whatever you like you share or save to your phone," he said.
He said that he had purchased the pistol himself for Rs20,000, from a local in Wazirabad named 'Butt', and that the purchase was facilitated by a man named 'Waqas'. The suspect also revealed that there were 9 bullets in the magazine of the gun he fired, and that he had fired around 7-8 bullets before his magazine was emptied, claiming that one of the bullets got stuck inside. He claimed to be carrying a total of 26-27 bullets.
"I aimed right at the container, and my target was only Imran Khan," he said, "My purpose was only to shoot Imran Khan, I did not want to kill anyone else in the crowd." He then said that someone from the container also opened fire at him after he had fired his first round.
"They also shot at me, because of this a couple of people there were also injured, I was also about to be hit, but I moved to the side and started running," he claimed, adding that the opposite side shot back at least 4-5 times.
When asked if he saw who fired the bullets, he said that it was the guards standing in front of Imran Khan, adding that one of them had later caught Naveed. He also claimed that one of the guards was responsible for shooting the PTI supporter who died as a result of yesterday's incident.
"The man who caught me, he was one of them, through him one person died, I saw it myself, and then I ran away so I don't know what else happened," he said.