Angela Bassett Expresses Grief Over ‘9-1-1’ Crew Member’s Passing After 14-Hour Shift: ‘We’re All Rocked By It’

Richard Priem, who also went by Rico, passed away in a car accident early Saturday morning in Pomona, California. Angela Bassett is responding to the heartbreaking news that a 9-1-1 crew member passed away in a car accident after working a late 14-hour shift on the procedural drama.

The 65-year-old actress, who stars on the hit Fox show, spoke to ET at the 2024 Disney/ABC Upfront event at the Javits Center in New York City, where she offered her condolences to the family of Richard Priem, the man known as Rico who worked as a grip on the show and was a member of the IATSE Local 80 crew union.

“The studio, 9-1-1, we all extend our deepest condolences to his friends and his family,” Bassett shared with ET. “It was just a very, very sad moment. We’re all rocked by it, certainly.”

9-1-1 is in its seventh season, and over the years the cast and crew have experienced many milestone moments in each of their personal lives — from births and weddings to, tragically, now a loss in the family.

“It’s the first time [we experience loss]. We have births, you know, we have weddings and now to experience this,” Bassett shared before adding that the cast and crew remembered Priem on the set. “We just had to take a moment, just take time and take a moment. We thought it was important to come together and have whatever bit of service and offer whatever we can do to his family, ’cause we know that we’ll miss him but we know they will miss him even more.”

Bassett added that when the cast and crew gathered on the set to remember Priem, “so many beautiful words were spoken of him.”

Priem passed away in a highway crash early Saturday at approximately 4:27 a.m. following an overnight shoot on location in Pomona, California. The California Highway Patrol reported Priem’s Toyota Highlander “left the roadway for unknown reasons, went up an embankment and overturned.” Priem was pronounced deceased at the scene, and the cause of the crash remains under investigation.