Weather Reporter Shot

Weather Reporter Shot

A Los Angeles television reporter was struck in the hand by a BB gun pellet Saturday afternoon while delivering a live weather report, officials said.
Two teenagers were arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the shooting, Fontana police told The Los Angeles Times.

KABC-TV Channel 7 reporter Leanne Suter was taken to a hospital after she was hit about 6 p.m. while standing on Summit Avenue near Interstate 15, KABC said, adding she is expected to be OK.

Police, with the assistance of a San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department helicopter, pinpointed a house possibly involved. Officers found several BB guns inside the house, KABC said.

Police arrested two boys, ages 16 and 17, for assault with a dangerous weapon, a felony, KABC said. The boys, whose names were not released, were released to their parents.

Authorities said they apparently fired from the home’s back yard. The TV news van was hit, KABC said. Police recovered at least two pellets.

“We are fully cooperating with police in their investigation,” KABC-TV President and General Manager Arnold J. Kleiner said in a statement reported by the Times. “Our crews and reporters are very conscious of good safety practices and take proper precautions when on assignment. They could not have anticipated that someone would decide to target them in this way.”

Suter has worked at KABC since 2003, according to the station’s website.

She got her first TV job while in college working at WSYX in Columbus, OH. She has also worked in the White House press pool in the Midwest during presidential elections, and was a reporter in Akron, Ohio, and Grand Rapids, Mich. She moved to Los Angeles in 1998, first working at KCAL before joining KABC.