Hundreds of thousands of Americans watched a man shoot himself in the head live on television as Fox News broadcast the final moments

the actual video -

The cable news channel was playing live footage of the pursuit when the suspect leapt out of his car and began running away down a dirt track.

As producers and viewers watched, the man staggered away from his vehicle, ran a short distance into the grass and then produced a gun.

Shephard Smith, Fox News's afternoon anchor, was providing a running commentary as the suspect lurched away from the vehicle and viewers could hear his producers gasping in horror as the man shot himself.

Mr Smith shouted "get off it, get off it" as it became clear the man intended to kill himself but the station did not cut away in time and broadcast the suspect crumpling to the ground.

Fox went to a commercial break and when it returned to the studio a visibly shaken Mr Smith apologised to viewers, saying "that didn't belong on TV".

"We see a lot of things that we don't let get to [the viewers] 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," he said.

Mr Smith said that the network had put the footage on a five-second delay after the suspect left his car but it appears that the non-delayed version was broadcast live.

In the footage of the broadcast, Mr Smith appears to react to the shooting several seconds after it had already happened, suggesting that he was looking at a delayed feed but the public was watching live.

No details of the man's identity were immediately available.

US networks often play car chases live on screen but this latest incident may spark demands for a reform of the policy.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9575413/...

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Comment by Anthony Kimbrough on September 29, 2012 at 12:40am: Fox done that intentionally. The can do a lot of things with a 3 second delay, I've seen that first hand. With 5 seconds they could do even more. For the guy who shot himself, thats bad. For that man's family and friends it was traumatic. All the crap going on in the world and they show a car chase? Something is extremely wrong... besides Faux.

Comment by suzie on September 29, 2012 at 12:27am: That was horrific ~ i hope we are not so desensitized to violence that that wasn't brutally offensive to all of us~ one solitary man who life had become so unbearable he felt the need to drive out into the middle of no where and put a gun to his own head and take his life ~ witnessing the moment of the last breath of another human being in such a desperate and violent way is worse than seeing a war in action ~ death is final that was no video game ~ and i am sure he did not think any one was watching ~ have we all became Big Brother voyeur's ? disturbing :(

Comment by Jim Braun on September 29, 2012 at 12:20am: No big deal,just another nut case the gov. can't get their hands on.

Comment by paul goeltz cookie on September 28, 2012 at 10:56pm: sure on the button

Comment by truth on September 28, 2012 at 10:43pm: ouch and lol

Comment by Central Scrutinizer on September 28, 2012 at 10:40pm: ohh...forgot to mention, I have seen this kinda of person many times, used to live w/ these type foks.....one word........METH....or was it Mesothelioma??

Comment by Central Scrutinizer on September 28, 2012 at 10:37pm: false flag shit...looking for ratings my brother....and I haven't looked for Al Gore in years, so no thanks on the link ;)

Its a dog eat dog mentality out here couz, screw your fellow man before they screw you now...Welcome to the new & improved AmeriKa

Wheres my Free Obumbles phone dammitt???