Live TV can be a tricky business even when everyone involved is a highly skilled professional dedicated to getting the ins and outs of such a broadcast right. But, if you add the huge unknown factor of filming in front of the public, who are going about their days and nights as usual while you attempt to work, it can only add to the difficulties of a live feed. One reporter learned about this first hand recently, when police began firing shots during his segment, but he seemed remarkably unconcerned about the whole event.
Here's what happened. This Monday night, reporter Jeff McAdam, who works for Fox 5 in San Diego, was in front of the convention center doing a live segment on the decision to keep the city's San Diego Comic-Con as a virtual event for the second year in a row. As McAdam was working, though, an officer involved shooting began in the distance, and, well, take a look below at the clip posted to Twitter to see what happened:
I'm not sure what to say, really. I have been so thoroughly taught to hit the deck whenever I think I hear gunshots, especially if those shots are as clearly heard as the ones in this video, that I simply cannot imagine being able to remain so calm in a wide open space when gunfire begins. Obviously, pretty much anything can happen if you're a reporter doing a live shot on the street, but I can't tell if this is just all of Mr. McAdam's journalistic training kicking in, or if he's never been particularly worried about avoiding gunfire during his time on the planet, so it really didn't faze him at all.
At any rate, McAdam was completely able to keep his cool on camera during what would have likely been a stressful moment for many people. He also kept his head in the game, moving aside so that his photographer (who also didn't seem to flinch at the police activity) could try to get a look at what was going on while they both remained at a safe enough distance. As he does, McAdam manages to finish what he's saying before switching over to the much bigger news of the officer involved shooting.
According to an update from Fox News, as we see in the video, a man was taken into custody after exchanging those gunshots with police. Apparently, while on the scene for their live feed, McAdam and his photographer had seen police try to pull over a slow-moving car in front of the convention center, before that vehicle finally came to a stop. Police investigators later said that the driver had run a red light and seemed to be impaired.
While it is very fortunate for Jeff McAdam and his crew that none of them were directly impacted by the shooting, a bystander was struck by a stray bullet. Luckily, the man had an eyeglass case in his back pocket which took the brunt of the shot, and he was able to escape without sustaining any physical injuries.
