WORK
KNBC
Consumer Advocate
Fight Back
HOSTAGE ORDEAL
On August 19, 1987, during KNBC’s 4 p.m. newscast, a gun-wielding mental patient identifying himself as “Gary” got into the NBC Studios in Burbank, California, as a guest of an employee on the set and took Horowitz hostage live on the air. With the gun pressed on his side, Horowitz calmly read the gunman’s statements on camera; unbeknownst to the gunman, the news feed had been taken off the air. The unidentified man revealed at the end of his statement that the gun was an empty BB gun, and set the gun down on the newsdesk, at which point anchorman John Beard quickly confiscated it. It led Horowitz to start a successful campaign to help ban “look-alike” toy guns in several states, including California and New York.
PERSONAL
Born David Charles Horowitz 06/30/1937
The Bronx
Died 02/14/2019 (aged 81)
Los Angeles
Married Suzanne McCambridge (1973–2019, his death)
EXTERNAL LINKS
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/david-horowitz-dead-tv-fight-back-consumer-advocate-was-81-1188174
credits/ info-wikipedia/ photo-KNBC publicity