WASHINGTON // The filming of the reality show Cops turned deadly when US police firing on a man suspected of robbing a restaurant hit a TV sound man and killed him.
The suspect, later found to have a pistol that fired pellets, was also killed in the incident in Omaha, Nebraska, on Tuesday night.
The audio technician was named as Bryce Dion, 38, and his death is believed to be the first in the 25-year history of the show, one of the first American reality programmes.
In Cops, TV crews embed with the police and film them in action.
Omaha police chief Todd Schmaderer said Dion was in the vestibule of a Wendy’s fast food restaurant as the suspect, identified as Cortez Washington, came out firing his pellet gun.
The police chief said it was “absolutely ridiculous” to suggest that officers might have been showing off for the cameras.
Langley Productions, the company behind Cops, said it was “deeply saddened and shocked by this tragedy and our main concern is helping his family in any way we can”.
* Agence France-Presse
