First shot: missed Ford’s head by inches and punched into the hotel facade. Second shot: a former Marine in the crowd, Oliver Sipple, dove in and grabbed Moore’s arm mid-squeeze; the bullet ricocheted and hit taxi driver John Ludwig. Heroic chaos, Bay Area edition. Backstory that makes your jaw drop: police had literally confiscated Moore’s .44 and 113 rounds the day before on an illegal-handgun bust. She then bought a different revolver that morning—reportedly with sights off by about six inches at that distance—helping explain the near-miss. And yes, Ford was already living in Final Destination mode: just 17 days earlier, Manson follower Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme tried to shoot him in Sacramento before a Secret Service agent wrestled the gun. California really said “two-for-one special.” After the San Francisco scare, Ford started rocking a bulletproof trench coat in public because… obviously. Aftermath: Moore pleaded guilty, got life, and was paroled on December 31, 2007. Sipple was praised as a hero—but the media frenzy outed his private life and wrecked him, turning a split-second save into a tragic tabloid saga of its own. History can be brutal like that.