Sad news from ABC’s 9-1-1 camp. Originally broken by The Hollywood Reporter, TVLine reports a crew member on the First Responder drama series died in a car accident after working a 14-hour shift into early Saturday morning. Reports state the accident occurred north of the series’ shooting location in Pomona, California.
According to TVLine, grip crew member Rico Priem was headed north on the 57 Freeway when his vehicle left the roadway. Priem’s Toyota Highlander was found flipped on its roof up an embankment near Via Verde in San Dimas. A report of the incident came in around 4:27 a.m. Priem was pronounced dead at the scene.
TVLine reports IATSE Local 80 issued statement on Priem’s death to The Hollywood Reporter saying they are “fully committed to the safety and the well-being of all our members and express our heartfelt condolences to the member’s family. Workers have a reasonable expectation that they can get to work and come home safely. No one should be put in unsafe circumstances while trying to earn a living.”
9-1-1′s production studio, 20th Television, also issued a statement: “On behalf of the studio and everyone at 9-1-1, we send our sincere and deepest condolences to Rico Priem’s family and friends.”
Currently in its seventh season, the former Fox procedural was renewed for season eight in April, via TVLine. The show stars Angela Bassett (Gunpowder Milkshake, Black Panter) as Athena, Kenneth Choi (The Wolf of Wall Street, Hotel Artemis) as Chimney, Ryan Guzman (Everybody Wants Some, The Boy Next Door) as Eddie, Aisha Hinds (Underground, Shots Fired) as Hen, Jennifer Love Hewitt (The Ghost Whisperer, I Know What You Did Last Summer) as Maddie, Peter Krause (Six Feet Under, Parenthood) as Bobby, Corinne Massiah (Bad Hair, Pitch) as May, Gavin McHugh as Christopher, and Oliver Stark as Buck (Into the Badlands, Dracula).
The drama series recently stirred up headlines and online backlash after Stark’s character was revealed to be bisexual. Buck responded to the scrutiny in a statement on Instagram: “If you are one of the smaller group of people commenting on my posts about how this has ruined the show, I would like you to know that I truly don’t care.”
The show was created by Tim Minear (American Horror Story, Feud) and long-time collaborators Brad Falchuk (Nip/Tuck, Pose) and Ryan Murphy (American Crime Story, The Watcher).
New episodes of 9-1-1 air Thursdays at 8 p.m. on FOX.