A car thief shot himself in the head Friday on live national television at the conclusion of a high-speed chase with the police. The chase took place in Phoenix and ended after 90 minutes when the car was closing in on the California border.
As they often do, Fox News was covering the chase using a live helicopter, and at the end of the chase the man driving a Dodge Caliber suddenly stopped the vehicle and got out. Cameramen didn't know what to do next, so they continued filming as the man ran down a dirt road.
The man then walked a few feet off the road into a more grassy area and pulled out a gun. Fox News anchor Shepard Smith tried to get the cameraman's attention by repeatedly saying "Get off, Get off," before raising his voice for them to do so. His efforts were too late however, as the man pulled the trigger and fell face-first into the ground before Fox News cut off the image.
Police Sergeant Tommy Thompson declared the man dead at the scene. The man has yet to be identified.
Normally Fox News broadcasts are on a 10-second delay so that if an event such as this happened they would have 10 seconds to cut from the broadcast aired out to viewers.
"We really messed up, and we're all very sorry," said Smith live during the broadcast.
Fox took to airwaves many times on Friday to apologize for showing the violent act live. Fox News has faced criticism in the past for showing live car chases instead of showing regularly scheduled programming. Critics feel that showing the chase glorifies the person driving the vehicle when they don't deserve anymore attention than they've already received.
No Phoenix station was broadcasting the chase live as well, making Fox News look even worse.
Police say that the man stole a car from a couple at gunpoint at a Phoenix restaurant early Friday morning. After police found the vehicle, the car thief shot perusing police cars several times.
"That didn't belong on TV," said Smith. "We took every precaution we knew how to take to keep that from being on TV and I personally apologize to you that that happened."
Related Articles:
Car Crashes Into Staten Island Home
Apple's Tim Cook Apologizes For Maps App
See Now: OnePlus 6: How Different Will It Be From OnePlus 5?
