CBS has pulled the season finale episode of “FBI” that was to have aired Tuesday night after a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that officials say claimed the lives of at least 18 students and one teacher, an individual with knowledge of the move told TheWrap.
The episode involves the son of Jeremy Sisto’s character and his reluctance to provide information about a classmate with ties to a massive gun heist.
No date has yet been announced when the episode might air. The other two “FBI” series: “FBI: Most Wanted” and “FBI: International,” will air as scheduled Tuesday night on CBS, the source told TheWrap.
The real-life shooting occurred Tuesday at Robb Elementary School, where the suspected gunman, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, also died.
“He shot and killed horrifically and incomprehensibly 14 students and killed a teacher,” Governor Greg Abbott said during a press briefing before officials provided an update on the number of victims.
The suspect also shot and killed his grandmother, officials say. He was armed with a handgun and possibly also a rifle.
In the past, real-life shootings have frequently prompted other networks to pull episodes, including a 2015 episode of “Mr. Robot” that was deemed to be too similar to a horrific on-air killing of two television station employees in Virginia. In September 1999, the Columbine school massacre prompted the cancellation of an episode of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” that featured Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) trying to stop what she thought was a mass shooting at her high school.
The “FBI” episode was not made available for screening prior to its airing. Sisto, who plays FBI agent Jubal Valentine in the Dick Wolf Productions series, recently previewed the finale for TheWrap, saying it is “a really, really complicated [look at] parental and relationship stuff.” In the CBS series, Valentine’s son Tyler (played by Caleb Reese Paul) is in his early teens.
Sisto called the episode, which was written by showrunner Rick Eid, “really nuanced in the way that [it deals with] his relationship and Jubal’s feelings about being a father and being an ex-husband and a partner in parenthood. The stakes are insanely high.”