After an explosion at an army base that kills several soldiers, President Jonathan Hayes (Gregory Harrison) attends a memorial service and is shot while speaking.

It is revealed that a militia rebel group has resurfaced with a vengeance to assassinate President Jonathan Hayes for the death of their brothers.

Agent Alex McGregor (Mariel Hemingway), now the Director of the United States Secret Service, tries to prevent the attack on the President's life, but when the President is shot and agent McGregor's husband Grant Coleman (Doug Savant), is kidnapped, the stakes are raised, and Alex realizes she has become a target as well.

Steven Oxman from Variety wrote about the film: "Director Armand Mastroianni and his team's most significant achievement in First Shot is to make sure we don't associate any of this with reality.

[3] John Leonard of New York magazine wrote: "The same old militia is back again, this time kidnapping Mariel's husband, and it also bombs the officer's club at an Army base, and quite a lot of clap is trapped".