Former CNN anchor Lynne Russell and her husband were involved in a “shootout” at a Motel 6 in Albuquerque, N.M., that left a would-be robber dead. According to a report by KOB-TV, Russell and her husband, Chuck De Caro, a former CNN investigative reporter, had stopped at the motel for the night when an armed man tried to rob the couple.
“He pushed me into the room and that’s when my husband came out of the shower and saw what was happening,” Russell said. “We tried to calm him, confuse him and do everything we could do to just come out of it in one piece.”
Russell and her husband, a former Green Beret, both had weapons and concealed carry permits. De Caro managed to grab his gun and engage the man even though he was undressed from the shower. “(The suspect) wound up taking my husband’s briefcase, and instead of just taking it and leaving, he took it and went over and started firing at my husband. And Chuck fired back and it was a shootout.”
The gunman was killed, De Caro was hit by three rounds, but survived. Russell was uninjured.
“I am very, very proud of my husband. He is my hero,” Russell said. “He saved my life.”
Russell, who was for years an anchor at what was then known as CNN Headline News, once appeared on Late Night with Conan O’Brien wearing a black dress–and a handgun in a holster on her thigh.
Russell and De Caro recently were among ex-CNNers who attended reunions to mark the network’s 35th Anniversary.