CNN and Fox News are in continuing coverage this afternoon of a shooting at a Hindu Sikh temple in the Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
The first 911 calls came in at 10:25amCT. CNN first reported the news about an hour and 15 minutes later at 12:46pmET, Fox News a few minutes after that at 12:51pm. Both networks went into extensive coverage in the 1pmET hour. At 1:55pmET, NBC’s Lester Holt anchored a special report on MSNBC from London where he is reporting from the Olympics. MSNBC is among the NBCU networks broadcasting the games. And while Fox News and CNN went into breaking news mode, MSNBC returned to a field hockey match between Australia and Great Britain. MSNBC produced an update at 2:39pm.
(Having been on the other side of this, as MSNBC’s coordinating producer for the Summer Olympics in Sydney and Athens, I can tell you the threshold to break in to games coverage for an extended period of time is very high.)
Fox News aired its 3pmET block of “Journal Editorial Report” and “Fox News Watch” as CNN continued coverage from Wisconsin.
NBC affiliate WTMJ in Milwaukee at first aired a crawl during Olympics coverage, but went into full breaking news coverage around 12:35pmCT, moving Olympics coverage to its digital channel. Other Milwaukee stations are also in continuing coverage as the scene is still not secure at this hour. At least 7 people are dead, including the gunman.