A Los Angeles television station reporting live on the manhunt for Christopher Dorner was pranked by a man claiming to be a U.S. Fish and Game Commission official.
The man, who called the television station and identified himself as "Mike Taugher," told KCBS he could confirm that a Fish and Game officer had seen Dorner, the fugitive former police officer who has sparked a massive search through Southern California. Dorner is suspected of killing three people.
A man police believed to be Dorner engaged in a shootout with officers Tuesday and was holed up in a cabin about 30 minutes outside of Big Bear, 100 miles east of Los Angeles.
The caller said that Ronnie the Limo Driver, radio show host Howard Stern's head of security, was caught in a gunfire fight with Dorner.
"We believe it was Ronnie the Limo Driver firing at Mr. Dorner and we believe that he hit him," the caller said.
As the reporter continued interviewing the bogus fish and game official, the man interrupted her with a vulgarity.
"You're a real dumbass," he said on the air. "You still don't know that this is a prank?"
The line immediately went dead as the reporter scrambled to excuse the mistake.
"Someone's taking advantage of live television during a very serious day in Los Angeles," the reporter said.
A Philadelphia-based comic named Captain Janks, who claims on his Twitter page to be a Stern "superfan," claimed responsibility for the call, relishing, in several tweets, his newfound popularity on the network.
A man at the assignment desk at KCBS said "We don't talk about this right now" and quickly hung up the phone on TheWrap.
Watch the video:
Updated at 4:40 p.m. PT with the comic who claimed responsibility for the prank, Captain Janks.
