This Los Angeles Reporter Had A Scary Run-In With A Bystander On Live TV

While reporting on the passing of David Bowie in Los Angeles on Monday night around 10 p.m., KTLA 5 News reporter Mary Beth McDade experienced a terrifying moment live, on camera. Reporting back to the studio, McDade addressed anchors Rick and Cher, speaking about how Bowie was known for breaking down barriers, when all of a sudden a hooded man who had been milling around in the background with a group of other people suddenly rushed her, causing her to scream and the camera to cut away.

Viewers at home were sent into a panic, but fortunately a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department, Officer Mike Lopez, later said that they believed the man had brushed up against McDade while making a sexual remark. However, upon further investigation, it was found unlikely that he touched her at all.

Lopez said the incident was not considered “an attack.” No one was injured, and officers from the LAPD’s Hollywood Division went to the scene, he said.

McDade likewise took to Twitter to reassure fans that she was okay:

Maybe it was just a prank of a long-dead meme, but these are scary times we live in, and with reporters now taking their own lives in their hands as they report in the field, it’s not unreasonable to let an incident like this get blown out of proportion.

(Via The Los Angeles Times)

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