Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Lynne Russell, the former CNN anchor, appeared in court on Friday to give emotional testimony about the Motel 6 shootout that occurred last month.
In the terrifying encounter, an armed holdup man tried to rob Russell and her husband, former CNN reporter Chuck de Caro, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, while they were in the midst of a cross-country trip.
Both Russell, who also has a law enforcement background, and de Caro hold concealed carry licenses and were traveling with their handguns.
A former U.S. Army special forces officer, de Caro exchanged gun fire with the thief. Russell’s husband was hit three times and is still undergoing treatment; the gunman was killed in the shootout.
The assailant was a parole violator from Memphis, Tennessee, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
The robber’s accused accomplice, who allegedly drove him to the scene and provided him with the gun, reportedly went to court to try to get his $500,000 cash bond reduced.
Describing the June 30 incident and what followed, Lynne Russell provided heartfelt testimony as to why the judge should deny the motion to lower the bond amount.
“This man conspired to stalk me and to invade my hotel room and my husband’s room with a firearm, hold us against our will, rob us. My husband was shot three times. It’s been exactly one month, and he is still on oxygen, and he is still in nursing care. He is still trying to learn to walk very painfully. All this happened because this man conspired to stalk me and to do all of these things in our hotel room. And I can’t imagine making it any easier for him to be out amongst society would do anyone any good at all. So I ask that nothing be changed.”
The judge apparently agreed with Lynne Russell, and the shooter’s accomplice is being held on the original bond on charges of attempted first-degree murder, kidnapping, and aggravated battery.
About the accomplice, KOB Channel 4 in Albuquerque also reported that “He’s not only got a significant criminal history, he has a failure to appear history, and he was on probation at the time of picking up these charges, said prosecutors.”
In the aftermath of the ordeal, Lynne Russell publicly declared that the couple survived only because of the Second Amendment, the constitutional right to keep and bear arms, and the bravery of her husband.
Lynne Russell is a familiar face from CNN’s early days when it launched its then-groundbreaking around-the-clock news coverage, serving as prime-time network anchor from 1983 to 2001. She subsequently worked in Canadian media for about five years.
Watch surveillance video taken outside the motel room on the night in question when a gunman tried to rob former CNN anchor Lynne Russell and her husband.