19 Christine Chubbuck’s live on-air suicide
One fateful day, Christine Chubbuck did what she had been doing for the past few years: She read the morning news live for WXLT-TV in Florida. Except this time, in the middle of her segment, she went off-script and said, with an eerie calmness, “In keeping with Channel 40’s policy of bringing you the latest in blood and guts, and in living color, you are going to see another first: attempted suicide.” She then pulled out a gun and shot herself behind the right ear.
The station quickly went to a public service announcement as Chubbuck died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the floor. Oddly enough, when her notes were examined, Chubbuck had written the whole event out, even writing things such as which hospital she would be taken to and which reporter would replace her after the suicide. As far as we know, all tapes of the event have been destroyed, but if this happened today, it would live on in infamy online. We’re glad it didn’t turn out like that.
