three weeks before her death she had received approval to do a program on suicide. on the morning of monday, july 15, 1974, during her broadcast, chubbuck read a prepared script. she said: "in keeping with channel 40's policy of bringing you the latest in blood and guts, and in living color, you are going to see another first, an attempted suicide." chubbuck then shot herself with a handgun. it was not a quick decision but an event she had planned for months. chubbuck had even joked about shooting herself on the air but nobody had apparently paid much attention. she had been dealing with depression for several years before she died. chubbuck was 29 years old.