Chubbuck confused co-workers by claiming that she had to read a newscast to open her program, Suncoast Digest, something she had never done before. That morning’s talk show guest waited across the studio while she sat at the news anchor’s desk.Her news copy actually contained a speculative report of her impending suicide, wherein she conjectured she would be declared dead eleven hours later. She placed a .38 revolver in her bag of puppets and put it beneath her desk. During the first eight minutes of her program, Chubbuck covered three national news stories and then a local restaurant shooting from the day before. The restaurant was the Beef and Bottle Restaurant at the Sarasota-Bradenton Airport on U.S. 41.
The film reel of the restaurant shooting had jammed and wouldn’t run, so Christine shrugged it off and said:“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: an attempted suicide.” She drew out the revolver and shot herself behind her right ear. Christine fell forward violently and the technical director faded slowly to black.
Camerawoman Jean Reed later recalled that she thought it had been an elaborate prank, and it wasn’t until she saw Chubbuck’s twitching body that she realized it was genuine.The station quickly ran a standard Public Service tape, and then a movie. Some television viewers had phoned 9-1-1, while others phoned the station to inquire if the shooting was faked.
Chubbuck was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital and was pronounced dead 14 hours later. Upon receiving the news, a WXLT staffer released the information to other stations using Chubbuck’s copy, as she left it for just that purpose.
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