TV news crew robbed at gunpoint in Chicago. They were reporting on robberies

A Chicago television news crew which was reporting on a string of robberies ended up being robbed themselves after they were accosted at gunpoint by three armed men wearing ski masks. The incident happened when Spanish-language station Univision Chicago's reporter and photographer were filming in Chicago's West Town neighborhood. Three masked men with firearms robbed them, taking their television camera and other items.

“They were approached with guns and robbed. Mainly it was personal items, and they took a camera,” Luis Godinez, vice president of news at Univision Chicago said, adding that the news crew was filming a story about robberies in the West Town community that was scheduled to be part of the morning news. The footage that the crew shot was in the stolen camera and the story never made it on the air, he said.

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Chicago police identified the victims as a 28-year-old man and 42-year-old man. The pair was outside when the three men drove up in a gray sedan and black SUV, the police said. No injuries were reported and no one is in custody, police informed.

This marks the second robbery involving a Chicago news crew this month as a WLS-TV photographer was assaulted and robbed on August 8 while preparing to cover an afternoon news conference on Chicago's West Side.

The robberies prompted the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians Local 41 which represents TV photographers in Chicago to warn about the growing safety threats.

“Our news photographers and reporters provide a very important public service in keeping our community informed. We are committed to making sure that their safety comes first," Raza Siddiqui, president of the union local, said.

Some of the news stations affiliated with the union planned to take additional safety steps, he said.

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