Fox News accidentally broadcast live footage of a carjacker committing suicide on Friday.
Anchor Shepard Smith was narrating the car chase, as police followed. The carjacker pulled onto a brush-covered dirt road before stopping the car and getting out.
Fox was airing footage shot by a news helicopter. Smith was confused as to the man's intentions, wondering aloud, "Well, you wait for the end of these things and then you wonder about how they may end."
The man, seemingly disoriented, ran away from the abandoned car further down the path. He flailed his arms and stumbled, rolling onto his back before getting up and continuing his flight.
A few yards later, he stopped and turned around, pausing for a moment before putting a gun to his head and pulling the trigger.
He collapsed, and Fox cut back to Smith in the studio, who was visibly distressed.
Gasps can be heard from the studio staff before Smith started urging the crew to cut the feed. "Get off, get off, get off it," he said several times, his voice growing more demanding.
"While we were taking that car chase and showing it to you live, when the guy pulled over and got out of the vehicle, we went on delay," Smith explained to the audience.
"So that's why I didn't talk for about 10 seconds. We created a five second delay," Smith continued. "We really messed up, and we're all very sorry. That didn't belong on TV. We took every precaution we knew how to take to keep that from being on TV, and I personally apologize to you that that happened."
"Sometimes we see a lot of things that we don't let get to you, because it's not time-appropriate, it's insensitive, it's just wrong. And that was wrong. And that won't happen again on my watch. And I'm sorry."
In a statement, Michael Clemete, executive vice president of news editorial, blamed "severe human error."
"We apologize for what viewers ultimately saw on the screen," he said.
The suspect allegedly stole the car at gunpoint from a couple in Phoeniz, Ariz., before leading police on a chase on the highway. He fired several shots at officers.
Paramedics pronounced the man dead at the scene.
WARNING: THE VIDEO BELOW CONTAINS GRAPHIC VIOLENCE.
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