Man kills self on live TV, leaving Fox flatfooted

Posted: October 01, 2012

WHILE CARRYING an Arizona station's feed of a high-speed chase Friday afternoon, Fox News showed a man apparently committing suicide.

"Fox News" anchor Shepard Smith, who'd been doing commentary during the aftermath of the chase, apologized almost immediately.

"We really messed up and we're all very sorry," he said, according to ABC. "That didn't belong on TV. . . . I personally apologize to you that it happened. It's insensitive and it's wrong."

In the clip, a man is seen running down a hill after a car chase on Interstate 10 outside of Phoenix following a carjacking.

"It looks like he's a little disoriented or something," Smith remarked, as the subject began running erratically. "It's always possible the guy could be on something."

As he spoke, the man could be seen pulling something from his pants and then placing it against his head. Then, as the man slumped forward, the camera cut away and Smith appeared back in the studio, shouting, "Get off, get off, get off . . . Get off it!" as if unaware that the feed was no longer onscreen.

"ABC News" quoted Smith as saying there'd been a five-second delay on the feed, but it wasn't cut off in time.

- Ellen Gray

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