Rest in Peace, whoever you are

LAPD SWAT moves in on the Bentley

Following the twitter searches below, you might discover the latest news about a celebrity that has been repeatedly reported dead and alive many times overnight, following an LAPD police pursuit and standoff that appears to have ended with the driver shooting himself, whoever he was. For all that is wrong with the mainstream media, I listened online as several news anchors stated that they had heard the celebrity rumors, but all refrained from running with the details during the actual event.

In the social media catastrophe that followed, I watched live online video showing a man sitting in his car with a gun to his head and then watched online speculation buzz out of control and into complete citizen media chaos.

According to a local TV station’s web site: ABC7′s camera caught a glimpse of the suspect in the driver’s seat. The driver could be seen wearing sunglasses and talking on a mobile phone, and he appeared to be holding a handgun. Now, reports say he appears to have killed himself. Coverage ended on abc7.com but continued later on http://media.myfoxla.com/ for a while.

Hours ago, I first noticed the words Bentley and Khaled trending high in the Twitscoop Tweet cloud in my Tweetdeck application, as an online rumor spread that celebrity DJ Khaled of Terror Squad was at the wheel of the high-priced automobile with police in pursuit.

Twitterers posted links showing Khaled posed with a similar car and indicating that he was having career issues. One Twitter user posted a link to a Twitpic photo - with thousands of views – showing a person with a similar appearance, reportedly behind the wheel of the car in question.

At the same time, Twitter Search Trending topics also included: DJ Khaled, #chase, #bentley, White Bentley, Terror Squad, #whitebentley, 

There was even an update posted to Khaled’s wikipedia entry for a while, stating: “He wears his sunglasses at night. HE ROLLS WITH HIS SIDEVIEW MIRRORS TUCKED IN” …but it was later removed.

And later:
- The suspect in the LA car chase and standoff appears to have killed himself, according to live pictures; LAPD unable to confirm.

Now, however, there is press release: on DJ Khaled’s MySpace page.

****** OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE **** This is DJ Khaled and due to recent press and news reports I feel compelled to  release a statement. Just to be clear I am in Miami, FL working on Rick Ross’  album, Deeper Than Rap. I am not in LA where there are reports that I have been  in a police chase. These reports are completely false and unfounded. DJ Khaled We The Best Music

Now, Twitterers say Khaled has since been on the phone with a morning LA radio show.

Next, allhiphop.com and hollywood.tv also reported that DJ Khaled shot himself, but have now posted updates. There is a morning update in the LA Times as well.

Follow the search links above and you will find some fans celebrating Khaled’s survival while other simultaneously grieve his death. I feel worried for the future of news right now and want to know how we can do better.

Finally, this YouTube video shows medics removing somebody from the car, apparently deceased.

Rest in Peace whoever you are.