Local TV news guy's live report rudely interrupted by police shootout across the street
On-the-scene local news reporters have had a pretty rough go of it lately. Just last month, an Australian weatherman discovered a missing beachgoer’s drowned corpse adrift on the waters right as he was wrapping up a dispatch on dangerous tidal conditions (point made, Australia). Now, the rash of inopportune interruptions has reached America—specifically California, where a Fox 5 field reporter describing the cancellation of this year’s in-person San Diego Comic-Con was forced to pause his discussion of local economics for a dramatic police shootout literally right across the street from his vantage point.
“This is a big loss,” Jeff McAdam explains of SDCC’s cancellation, when multiple shots are suddenly heard off-camera. And yet, after an understandably surprised McAdam turns toward the gunfire and takes a small step backwards, the man somehow continues on with his story like it was no goddamn biggie. The Fox 5 reporter manages to get in a few more details on the original story before another string of gunshots erupt, at which point McAdam appears to think to himself, “Alright, I guess we should shift gears now,” and acknowledges that something potentially very violent and deadly is occurring in real time fewer than 500 feet away.
As it turns out, the shootout occurred after San Diego police were called to reports of a man “raising a ruckus and scaring off pedestrians” near the convention center. An officer found 69-year-old Stephen Wilson brandishing a knife, and fired on the suspect after reportedly feeling threatened. Wilson was wounded, but arrived at a local hospital in stable condition, so that’s good, all things considered.
Instead of examining police (mis-)conduct and the potentially unnecessary escalation of violence against an elderly, presumably unstable man, we’re gonna just opt to focus on McAdam’s response here—pause, take a step back, adjust to the situation accordingly, do not draw your gun or knife—which we feel might be more appropriate when confronted with any potentially violent and/or SDCC-related events.
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