
On September 5, 1972, in Munich, while a 32-year-old producer named Geoffrey S. Mason was busy working in ABC Sports’ control room, a building nearby housed 12 hostages, among them several members of the Israeli Olympic delegation. As Mason and his team were switching from their routine sports coverage to report on this sudden breaking news, the doors suddenly flew open, revealing German police brandishing machine guns aimed directly at Mason. The Germans were displeased because one of the network’s cameras had captured that German snipers were positioned on the roof over the hostages, potentially jeopardizing a rescue attempt.