CBS LA News Team Scrambles as Suspect Killed During Live Highway Police Chase: ‘Oh No!’

The CBS Los Angeles news team scrambled to cut a feed Monday night as a freeway chase ended in tragedy when the fleeing motorist was killed during a live broadcast of the pursuit, leaving anchors Suzie Suh and Juan Fernandez stunned in the studio.

The news crew was following the chase through downtown Los Angeles when the suspect, in a stolen white van, cut through Chinatown and headed north toward Pasadena. The individual drove down the 110 Freeway with cops in pursuit before suddenly exiting the vehicle near Highland Park to escape on foot.

He then climbed the center divider only to be struck by a speeding car that was passing in the oncoming lane.

“Whoa, wow! Oh my god! Oh no! Oh no!” Fernandez could be heard shouting.

The voice of assignment editor Mike Rogers then cuts in: “Stay wide, stay wide, he got hit.”

Coverage returned to the studio where Suh explained: “OK, we’re going to keep our one shot. We just saw the person who was being pursued get out of their car and actually get hit by another speeding car. I mean, it was.”

Beside her, Fernandez sat, mouth agape, in visible shock. As the pair grappled with what they’d seen, Suh sought an update from journalist Desmond Shaw, whose aerial footage had captured the moment.

Rogers then spoke on his behalf, relaying that no one else was in the van with the suspect: “That was so intense and so wild. The person tried to run along the median and it just – it didn’t work and, sadly, I don’t think this is going to end very well.”

Police later confirmed that the driver was pronounced dead. Law enforcement immediately shut down both directions of the freeway as investigators examined the scene, halting traffic for several hours on one of the city’s busiest arteries.

Watch above via CBS Los Angeles.