Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Warren Olney recalls the 1974 Symbionese Liberation Army shootout
On May 17, 1974, police got word that the Symbionese Liberation Army were hiding out in a house in Compton. Five hundred LAPD officers sieged the house, firing an estimated 1,200 rounds of ammunition on the house, and killing six SLA members. The incident was the first police shootout captured on live television.
By Madeleine Brand • • 1 min readOn May 17, 1974, police got word that the Symbionese Liberation Army were hiding out in a house in Compton. Five hundred LAPD officers sieged the house, firing an estimated 1,200 rounds of ammunition on the house, and killing six SLA members. The incident was the first police shootout captured on live television. It was broadcast live by one station, KNXT – now known as KCBS – and KCRW’s Warren Olney was working at that station and recalls the day that changed modern media.
