A cameraman and reporter fell victim to an armed robbery while covering a series of robberies in Chicago.
The unfortunate event occurred in the early hours of Monday in the West Town neighbourhood, shedding light on the escalating safety concerns faced by news crews.
According to sources, the television news crew was capturing footage for Univision Chicago, a Spanish-language TV station in the 1200 block of North Milwaukee Avenue. Three masked men wielding firearms approached the crew, demanding their possessions.
The vice president of news at Univision Chicago, Luis Godinez, shared, “They were approached with guns and robbed. Mainly, it was personal items, and they took a camera.”
Ironically, the crew had been documenting a story regarding the rising number of robberies within the West Town community, slated to be featured in the morning news. Unfortunately, the filmed content was trapped in the stolen camera, preventing the intended coverage from reaching the public.
Fortunately, no physical injuries were sustained during the encounter, and law enforcement has yet to make any arrests. The victims, identified as a 28-year-old and a 42-year-old, were ambushed by the armed assailants who arrived on the scene in a grey sedan and black SUV.
The incident has drawn attention to an unsettling pattern of safety threats to news photographers in Chicago. According to Bloomberg, recent reports from the Chicago Police Department indicate a series of robberies in the vicinity, often involving perpetrators wearing ski masks and operating stolen vehicles.
This is the second similar incident in the past month, marking an alarming trend that has also afflicted other US cities such as San Francisco.
[Via Petapixel]
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