Local TV Newscast Canceled After ‘Intruder’ Enters Newsroom

The CBS Albuquerque, New Mexico KRQE-TV was forced to cancel a Sunday night newscast and stay off the air for about 90 minutes Sunday night after an “intruder” entered the building.

“Sunday evening an unauthorized person entered the KRQE building and police were called,” reads a statement from the station. “Our broadcast operations had to cease while police searched the premises. An hour and a half later police gave us the all clear and we were able to continue our broadcast operations.”

Simon Drobik, Albuquerque Police public information officer, told CNN the man appeared to be in his 20s and wore a backpack. He entered the building and managed to get to a set, where he sat on a couch. KRQE staffers escorted the man out of the building, but he then went back in. Police were then called to the scene at about 8:45 p.m.

Police told staffers to evacuate the building, and advised employees at a nearby TV station to evacuate as well, Drobik told CNN. After officers searched the building, the suspect was not found.

Police said officers searched for the suspect, believed to be in his 20s, but he was not found.

Madeline Schmitt, a reporter for the station, tweeted about the incident, and told viewers everyone is safe. She said the station missed the 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. broadcasts, reports CBS News.

“Everyone at KRQE is safe. We did not go on air tonight at 9 and 10 due to a situation that involved police. I will defer any further comment to my managers — but please know that we are all safe. Many thanks to the hard work of @ABQPOLICE,” Schmitt tweeted.

“Waking up with a lot of gratitude. I believe that if this person wanted to hurt me and my weekend crew last night, he would have done it and I wouldn’t be typing this. I don’t know what his intentions were,” Schmitt wrote. “I’m just glad to be here… and I’m still damn proud to be a journalist.”

The incident happened just a few days after the shooting at the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland. The suspected gunman, Jarrod Ramos, had a long-running feud with the newspaper and stormed the office, killing five employees. Ramos was charged with five counts of murder. Despite the shooting, the Capital Gazette published a newspaper the following day.

“The incident in Annapolis, where I had actually just visited family about a week and a half prior, really shook me up,” Schmitt tweeted. “I thought about those 5 beautiful people last night, and APD told me that was one of the reasons they sent a massive response to our building, including K9s.”

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