A crew member working on an episode of Cops was shot and killed last night. Sound engineer Bryce Dion, 38, was in Omaha, Nebraska, following police who were engaged in a shootout with a robbery suspect at a Wendy’s. Officials said about 30 shots were fired—all of them by the police. Meanwhile, the robbery suspect, identified as Cortez Washington, was armed only with a pellet gun.
All Cops crew members wear bulletproof vests during filming, but Dion was hit “under his left arm,” according to authorities, with the bullet slipping into the opening between the vest and his body as he held up the microphone during taping. No one else from the crew or police force was injured.
In a statement, Langley Productions, the company behind Cops, said it’s “deeply saddened and shocked by this tragedy,” calling Dion “a long term member of the Cops team and a very talented and dedicated person.”