Reporter Kara Kostanich of KOMO News was live on camera covering recent drive-by shootings in Mount Vernon, WA, when she became part of the story. During her live broadcast at about 5 p.m., about 10 shots rang out. Kostanich and her photographer had to run for cover.
The incident was captured in Ms. Kostanich’s live reporting. A silver Honda accord and a dark green Dodge or Chrysler sped by behind Ms. Kostanich. A horn honked and bullets were fired, prompting both the photographer and the reporter to run for safety. The two cars then sped away from the scene.
Kostanich took to Twitter as she was hiding from gunfire to retweet the breaking news story and to try to get a police escort out of the area.
“Of course my immediate reaction was just to get down,” Kostanich stated. “I ran around the front of the Explorer, got in the passenger seat and ducked down under the dashboard.”
She later joined her photographer in a nearby home in which he sought refuge. They both walked away without injury.
Others haven’t been so lucky. There have been several drive-by shootings in the Mount Vernon area leading up to this particular incident. Resident Amanda Carreon has multiple bullet holes in her home and doesn’t understand why the shootings are happening.
A distraught Carreon exclaimed, “I just don’t know why. It’s been really hard to sleep since then.”
There have been a total of two deaths since the string of drive-by shootings began, and the local police are desperate for answers. There is speculation the recent shootings are connected, including a double homicide that occurred about a week ago.
In that incident, someone in a pickup truck fired at three men driving in another vehicle. Two of the three men killed were in the front seat. There has been no motive or connection found, but the police hope to track down the occupants of the two vehicles in this most recent shooting.
Lieutenant Chris Cammock of the Mount Vernon Police believes that the news camera crew may have a useful piece of evidence to use in the investigation.
“The most fortunate thing for us is some of the best evidence we got was from their camera that captured both vehicles driving into the camera and though it,” Cammock said.
