DALLAS (CBS News) — Police detained a “ranting” man accused of crashing a pickup truck into a Fox affiliate television station building Wednesday morning in downtown Dallas during a live newscast.
Fox 4 News station KDFW posted details on Facebook showing photos of the front of the vehicle rammed into windows near an entrance. The man paced and scattered numerous handwritten papers outside. He was not able to enter the building and was soon arrested.
Anchors who continued on the air through the 7 a.m. newscast, despite the crash, say nobody was hurt. The truck hit an unoccupied administrative side of the building before office workers arrived for the day.
A KDFW statement says “a man crashed a truck into the side of our building this morning” and “jumped out and started ranting.”
KDFW employees told CBSDFW reporter MaryAnn Martinez that the driver had actually intended to target WFAA-TV, the ABC affiliate in Dallas, but went to the wrong TV station.
CBSDFW.com reports that huge windows could be seen shattered and broken completely out as the truck sat against the glass, with the front end crumpled.
Anchor and reporter Brandon Todd, who witnessed the man pacing outside the station before he was arrested, said the man was yelling about “high treason,” and that he believed he had clearly been wronged and that someone was trying to kill him.
“It’s not real clear to what his message was,” according to Todd.
The man started crying when police took him into custody, Todd said.
Dallas police went to the scene at the corner of Griffin Street and San Jacinto and later called in members of the bomb squad, CBSDFW.com reports. Police said no explosives were found.
“When he [suspect] did come out of his vehicle, after ramming the building, he pulled a bag out of his vehicle so we had our EOD, our bomb unit, come out here just as a precaution to check that and make sure that it wasn’t anything dangerous,” Dallas police spokesperson Debra Webb said. “The bag was cleared.”
Police haven’t replied to phone messages seeking further details, including a possible motive. A remote-controlled police robot later Wednesday searched the area near the station, which was closed to the usual downtown business foot and vehicle traffic, following the incident.
