WCBS reporter John Slattery has died. He was 63.
Slattery worked at the New York CBS owned station for 30 years. According to the New York Daily News, Slattery died after a sudden heart attack hours after filing a report for the station.
“We are saddened by the unexpected passing of our friend and colleague John Slattery,” Peter Dunn, president of CBS Television Stations, wrote on the WCBS website. “During his nearly 30-year career at WCBS, he was great at reporting the news and was someone we counted on to cover big stories for us, both here in New York and around the world. Our thoughts and prayers are with John’s wife, Suzie, and their children and grandchildren.”
He personified excellence in television journalism for more than three decades. With his steady and straightforward delivery, our John Slattery brought us momentous stories.
On 9/11, he was one of the first reporters to arrive on the chaotic and terrifying scene, having witnessed the second plane strike the World Trade Center while emergency vehicles were still trying to make their way to the disaster.
He was plainspoken.
He was unflappable.
A trusted voice at CBS 2 for more than 30 years, he traveled around the world for the biggest stories.
He reported on the most well-known stories, like interviewing the infamous subway vigilante Bernie Goetz in the 1980s.
And then welcomed them home, reporting on ticker-tape parade tributes.
He followed through with the stories that brought us to tears, and those that made us laugh.
John’s wife Suzie was by his side. A heart attack took his life.
We are saddened to report passing of former WABC employee/veteran WCBS reporter John Slattery: http://t.co/feyXmNDC2T pic.twitter.com/apIs2fYCAG
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) September 25, 2014