As Hostage Situation Ends in Death, Raleigh’s WTVD Airs Video of Shooting

By Andrew Gauthier 

While WTVD’s live coverage of Thursday’s hostage situation at an area bank was dramatic, the most chilling moment was broadcast as a replay.

The Raleigh ABC-affiliate provided live coverage during its evening newscasts of the standoff between police and a 19-year-old armed robber.  The stand-off ended around 6:12 p.m. as officers shot the suspect as he exited the bank with a hostage.

WTVD was in a commercial break when the shooting occurred so viewers were naturally shielded from witnessing the shooting death. Coming out of the break, though, WTVD decided to show a replay, filmed by the station’s helicopter.

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“Wow, that is just really stunning to watch,” WTVD anchor Steve Daniels said as the grainy video footage played.

Daniels later asked the control room to play the video again but was stopped in his effort. “Actually, let’s pause on that,” he said abruptly.

WTVD news director Rob Elmore now says that he regrets airing the shooting video.

“I’ve directed all of our stations to never show that again,” Elmore told Raleigh’s News & Observer.

Here’s an image of the shooting video, with the robber circled:

And here’s a clip of WTVD’s coverage following the shooting:

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