A gun shot threw me right out of bed. I ran to the window and saw a flash of fire by the tower. Then there was another deafening explosion. The windows shook. I dressed as fast as I could and ran outside. I stopped on the western side. Below, guns were firing and sub-machine guns were rattling. They were firing blanks - you couldn't hear explosions anywhere. My friends later said that they had counted 14 shots. Searchlights cut across the sky. More people rushed over and formed another chain in front of us. Next to me there were only men, although behind me there were also women. Tank searchlights appeared from the eastern side of the tower. Soon we saw several armored vehicles and tanks behind the fence. A few of them simultaneously turned towards the tower and, breaking the fence, seemed to drive right over the people. But they left a few meters, turned again, and started to surround the tower. Alongside, soldiers were running and shooting into the air. Holding hands, we stood there and chanted: “Lithuania!" I've never seen people so united before. We knew that together we were strong, invincible, even against tanks. We didn't even think about death, we had no fear. We knew that we were defending Lithuania.
Suddenly on the right a tank shot rang out in my ear - apparently in the direction of the tower. Glass shattered. There was a fairly large gap between the light tank on the left and the tank on the right. A soldier was running around the tower, shooting at the ceiling. You could see bullets making sparks and plaster falling. There weren't any paratroopers in front of us, so somebody shouted: „Men! Let's go back! We won't give in." A number of men ran over to the tower and joined hands. All this might have happened in a minute. On the right, by the central entrance, there were people as well. Sub-machine guns rattled non-stop. They drowned out the screams of the people. A light tank was closing in on us from the left. Some guys pushed the front of it with their hands (but, pulling and pushing, it pushed them back a few meters).
Having pushed all the people away from the tower, the attackers positioned tanks one next to another, leaving maybe a meter between each of them. Paratroopers stood behind them, and in a little while they moved next to the light tanks. We stood 4 or 5 meters away from them. The tanks and paratroopers fired continuously. The windows in the tower shattered. Hearing the gunshots coming closer, some people bent down, while others no longer reacted. One woman was screaming hysterically that she had carried a man who was shot in the head from the tower with her own hands. Some guy who was standing on one leg said that he had been shot. His leg was all bloody. Another man and I ran over and carried him to the fence, and maybe 10 hands caught him on the other side. We returned back to the paratroopers. I tried to run around the tower, but I was stopped at the south side by a few men who said that they were shooting at that side. And they were right - a bit later I saw tracer bullets flying right near the ground in the direction of Lazdynai.
Soon soldiers began pushing people away, firing into the air and under our feet and shouting: „Nazad, nazad!" („Back, back!") They pushed us behind the fence that was now laying on the ground. Soon a light tank drove up and stopped behind them. The soldiers held their guns pointed at us. On the left we could see a light tank speeding towards the people, then it began spinning near the slope, pushing them down.
We tried to talk to the soldiers. When one person went up to them, a soldier unlocked his gun and pointed it at the man's chest.
Lithuania, 1991.01.13 : documents, testimonies, comments. - Vilnius : State Publishing Center, 1992, p. 215-216.