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Lynne Russell, Former CNN Headline News Anchor, Survives Deadly Motel Shootout With Robber, Husband Injured

By Pam Wright
Published on: 03:47 PST, Jul 3, 2015

Lynne Russell, who anchored CNN Headline News from 1983-2001, was involved in a deadly New Mexico motel shootout, in which her husband, former CNN reporter Chuck de Caro, was shot three times.

The couple were on a cross-country road trip when they decided to call it a night on Wednesday at a Motel 6 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Lynne Russell told reporters Wednesday, including a reporter for Albuquerque’s KOB-TV, that when she went out to the car to get something and returned to the room, a man was at the door wielding a handgun.

“He pushed me into the room and that’s when my husband came out of the shower and saw what was happening. We tried to calm him, confuse him and do everything we could do to just come out of it in one piece.”

After grabbing De Caro’s briefcase, the robber began shooting at de Caro. Russell says she hid behind the furniture and de Caro fired back, hitting the man.

Russell told the New York Post that the unnamed robber was killed in the shootout and de Caro was shot three times, but he survived.

“It was a gun battle, and Chuck was bleeding heavily, but he didn’t stop firing because the man was firing on him.”

Russell told the Associated Press that it’s a miracle her husband survived the shooting.

“He’s in a lot of pain. He took three shots, including a couple to the abdomen. But magically, his organs were not affected. He’s my hero. He saved my life.”

A spokesman for the Albuquerque Police Department, Officer Tanner Tixier, said it appeared to be a random robbery attempt.

“They weren’t targeted for who they were. We believe the offender didn’t realize the victim’s husband was in the motel (room). He believed he had an easy target. That turned out not to be the case obviously.”

Lynne Russell is a familiar face from CNN’s early days when the network launched its groundbreaking around-the-clock news coverage, serving as an anchor from 1983 to 2001. De Caro is a former CNN reporter and a former special forces officer.

[Image via Twitter/Lynne Russell]

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