David Kaplan (c. 1947 – August 13, 1992) was an American television producer for

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

, killed while his team was covering the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia from ...

. On August 13, 1992, on his first day in former Yugoslavia, he was struck by a sniper's bullet near the

Sarajevo Airport Sarajevo International Airport ( bs, Međunarodni aerodrom Sarajevo/Међународни аеродром Сарајево) is the main international airport in Bosnia and Herzegovina, serving Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is ...

while driving through

Sniper Alley "Sniper Alley" (Serbo-Croatian and Bosnian: ''Snajperska aleja'' / Снајперска алеја) was the informal name primarily for streets such as Ulica Zmaja od Bosne ( Dragon of Bosnia Street) and Meša Selimović Boulevard, the main boul ...

. His team had arrived to interview Milan Panic, the new Yugoslav prime minister. When traveling with the prime minister, however, the armored

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

car proved to be too small to hold everyone, and Kaplan was moved to a "soft-skinned" (unarmored) van of another television crew. Because Kaplan had no flak jacket, he was seated between two journalists who did. A few minutes later, a bullet was fired through the tailgate of the van, between the taped letters "T" and "V". Kaplan was not wearing a

flak jacket The two components of an obsolete British military flak vest. On the left, the nylon vest. On the right, the several layers of ballistic nylon that provide the actual protection A flak jacket or flak vest is a form of body armor. A flak jacke ...

, and the bullet entered his back, severing an artery. He died hours later in a Sarajevo hospital. Kaplan was the first American citizen to be killed in the Yugoslav Wars. The shooter was unknown. ABC News anchor

Sam Donaldson Samuel Andrew Donaldson Jr. (born March 11, 1934) is an American former reporter and news anchor, serving with ABC News from 1967 to 2009. He is best known as the network's White House Correspondent (1977–1989 and 1998–99) and as a panelist ...

, who had also been traveling in the motorcade, called Kaplan "a good man" who "understood the risks here". US presidential spokesman

Marlin Fitzwater Max Marlin Fitzwater (born November 24, 1942) is an American writer-journalist who served as White House Press Secretary for six years under U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, making him one of the longest-serving press secreta ...

described Kaplan as "an honest, fair, talented and creative journalist" and called his death "a very sad and personal loss for all of us who've worked with David". ABC News President

Roone Arledge Roone Pinckney Arledge Jr. (July 8, 1931 – December 5, 2002) was an American sports and news broadcasting executive who was president of ABC Sports from 1968 until 1986 and ABC News from 1977 until 1998, and a key part of the company's rise t ...

praised Kaplan as a man who had "devoted his life to news and to this organization." In October 1992, Kaplan was posthumously awarded the International Press Freedom Award of the

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journa ...

. His widow Sally accepted the award on his behalf. The following year, Sam Donaldson created a fellowship in Kaplan's name at the

Missouri School of Journalism The Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia is one of the oldest formal journalism schools in the world. The school provides academic education and practical training in all areas of journalism and strategic comm ...

of the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, David 1940s births 1992 deaths ABC News personalities American television news producers Assassinated American journalists Deaths by firearm in Yugoslavia Deaths by firearm in Bosnia and Herzegovina