False alarm, everybody. Last week we told you about a scary experience for WVVA reporter Annie Moore, who was shooting video at the scene where a body had been found–only to have a shot fired at her from a passing car. Billed as a “WVVA Exclusive”, Moore described feeling a bullet whiz by her head.
Turns out, there was no bullet. The Washington Times reports the sound Moore took for a gunshot was a pickup truck backfiring:
Beckley police detective Morgan Bragg said Friday the driver of the truck was passing by the crime scene on Monday when his vehicle backfired, as he said it is prone to do.
WVVA news director Elisabeth Shaffer, in an update posted to the station’s story, said “we are relieved that the outcome appears not to have been as serious as originally thought.” The station notes witnesses at the scene all believed they heard a gunshot, and the first police officer to review the station’s video of the incident said “well, it would have to be a gunshot.”