Justin Bieber released a statement regarding the photographer who was struck and killed by a car:
"While I was not present nor directly involved with this tragic accident, my thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victim," Bieber said in a statement.
"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." [CNN]
Bieber has been plagued by paparazzi following him since his rise to fame. During the past year, the music star has protested this behavior, and declared it unsafe to himself and others for photographers to be chasing him around.
On Tuesday, 29-year-old photographer Chris Guerra proved how true this is when he was struck in traffic, according to NBC News. He had been warned to return to his car by a police officer, who noticed Guerra crossing four lanes of traffic to photograph Bieber's Ferrari. As Guerra was returning to his car, he was struck and killed by a car driven by a 69-yrear-old woman.
Bieber was not in his car at the time. It was reportedly being driven by friends when it was pulled over.
Guerra had apparently told a friend that he saw Bieber in his car smoking marijuana, and wanted to take a photo of him doing it, according to TMZ.
Although Bieber seemed to be aware of Guerra and felt harassed, he nevertheless expressed his condolences to Guerra's family in his statement.
