CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A reporter and videographer with Spanish-speaking news station Univision were minutes away from going live at 5 a.m. when they were robbed at gunpoint near the CTA Blue Line Station at Milwaukee Avenue and Division Street.
Police said two vehicles pulled up, and three men got out. They were wearing ski masks and showed firearms before taking the victims’ belongings.
“In the situation that happened today, it just happened so quickly,” said Raza Siddiqui, the Region Four vice president for National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (NABET). “Someone pulled up right next to them brandishing a weapon.”
Siddiqui said photographers never know what they’ll encounter when they go out in the street. Monday’s armed robbery was the third attack on local news crews this month.
“Obviously no property, no assignment, nothing is worth the safety or the lives of our members,” he said.
No injuries were reported, and officials said no one is in custody at this time.
Siddiqui said NABET will be holding a seminar this week to give members a chance to discuss what they would like to see done in order to increase on-the-job safety.
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