Remembering KNBC's 1987 Gunman Incident

You probably saw the news reports yesterday of Charlotte, N.C. TV station WSOC, which was forced off the air after a woman with a gun entered the station.

The headlines reminded me of this famous 1987 incident at KNBC-TV. Live, on the air, viewers watched as a man suddenly walked on set and pointed a gun at consumer reporter David Horowitz.

The man, who turned out to be carrying a pellet gun, forced Horowitz to read a statement. (KNBC had actually pulled the signal at that point, but the anchors in the studio pretended to still be on the air.) When it was done, the man put down his gun -- and anchor John Beard quickly took it.

It later turned out that the gunman was the son of a former KNBC reporter, and had suffered from mental problems.