News producers struggled to cut a live TV feed of a California car chase as a suspect was struck and killed while fleeing on foot.
CBS Los Angeles anchors were left stunned Monday night after the news chopper captured a man in a stolen white van jumping out of the moving vehicle’s driver-side window over the 110 freeway’s median before being hit by a car.
“Whoa, wow! Oh my god! Oh no! Oh- Oh no!” co-anchor Juan Fernandez shouted.
A producer’s voice cut in, frantically directing the cameraperson to zoom out from the struck suspect.
“Stay wide, stay wide, he got hit,” they said.
Fernandez’s mouth was agape when it cut back to him and co-anchor Suzie Suh. Fernandez exhaled and hit the desk with his hand, composing himself, as Suh explained what happened.
“OK, we’re going to keep our one shot,” she said. “We just saw the person who was being pursued get out of their car and actually get hit by another speeding car.”
The LAPD initiated the chase just after 8:30 p.m. through Chinatown until the driver headed onto the 110 Freeway.
Suh explained that the freeway is “very curvy,” and Fernandez added that it’s “narrow.”
“You just have that K-rail really dividing the two sides,” Suh said.
She queued to an update from journalist Desmond Shaw, who captured the harrowing aerial footage. A producer, Mike Rogers, spoke on his behalf.
“That was so intense and so wild,” he said. “The person tried to run along the median, and it just – it didn’t work, and, sadly, I don’t think this is going to end very well.”
The man was struck by two cars, according to KTLA.
Police attempted life-saving measures, but by the time paramedics from the LA Fire Department arrived on scene, the suspect’s body was covered with a white sheet on the freeway.
Police later confirmed that the driver was pronounced dead.
No other people were inside the van, though animal control was contacted to remove a dog from inside. It’s unclear if the animal was injured.
Law enforcement shut down both directions of the freeway as authorities investigated the scene. Traffic was halted for six hours on one of the city’s busiest highways.
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