A paparazzo was killed by oncoming traffic Tuesday after he tried to snap pictures of Justin Bieber on a highway off-ramp.
The unnamed photographer, who saw the pop star's Ferrari parked on the off-ramp, left his car to take pictures and was hit by oncoming traffic as he tried to return to his vehicle, CNN reported Wednesday morning.
He later died at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
“He was just a kid. People misunderstand what’s going on here,” a friend of the photographer told KTLA 5. “He was just like any of you guys — a reporter. Maybe it was a different field. He was specializing in celebrity news because that’s where he thought the money is.”
Bieber wasn't actually in the car at the time of the incident.
However, the pop star did release a statement saying his thoughts and prayers were with the photographer's family.
"Hopefully this tragedy will finally inspire meaningful legislation and whatever other necessary steps to protect the lives and safety of celebrities, police officers, innocent public bystanders, and the photographers themselves," Bieber said in a statement, according to CNN.
Unfortunately, Tuesday's incident wasn't necessarily a surprise for Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine, who worried in July the paparazzi's pursuit of celebrities would end in disaster.
This summer a pack of paparazzi caused mayhem on the a California freeway while they chased Bieber's car down the road.
"He [a paparazzo] was coming up behind me, making abrupt lane changes, not giving signals, cutting off cars," Zine told CNN at the time. The photographers were driving "at a rapid speed, all of them."
Paul Raef, one of the photographers, was prosecuted under a California law that allows for additional penalties for paparazzi who drive recklessly in pursuit of celebrities, according to CNN.
However, a judge said the statute was too broad and dismissed the anti-paparazzi counts filed against the photographer, The Associated Press reported in September.
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