Security guard fatally shot while protecting Bay Area news crew reporting on crime
A security guard protecting a San Francisco Bay Area news crew died Saturday after being shot during an attempted robbery while on the job.
Kevin Nishita was working with local news station KRON on Wednesday when a group of thieves attempted to steal the news crew’s equipment, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
The KRON crew was in Oakland to report on a snatch-and-grab theft from a clothing store that happened Monday.
Nishita was shot in the abdomen, but the reporter was not injured, according to KRON. The thieves did not get the camera equipment.
Bay Area news crews often have security guards because they are targeted by robbers for their camera equipment. In June, reporters with the area’s NBC affiliate KNTV were held up while meeting with the Oakland’s Department of Violence Prevention chief. Their security guard scared away the would-be thieves with his own gun.
Nishita worked for several crews beginning in 2018. Before that he was a cop for several law enforcement agencies across the Bay Area.
“We mourn the loss of retired police officer Kevin Nishita who honorably served our Bay Area Community,” the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office said in a tweet. “He was protecting/guarding a local news crew when he was senselessly murdered. Today, we escorted his body from the hospital with full law enforcement honors.”
A $32,500 reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest of Nishita’s killer. Cops released a photo of a white 2004 to 2008 Acura TL that they said belonged to the shooter.
Nishita is survived by his wife, two children and three grandchildren.
