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The 9-1-1 family has lost one of their own. Rico Priem, a crew member from the show, died early morning on May 12. How did Rico Priem die? Here’s everything to know about the late crew member’s death and the cast’s reaction.
9-1-1 is ABC’s first responder drama that follows the heroic firefighters, paramedics and other emergency personnel at the Los Angeles Fire Department’s fictional Station 118. Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear, the procedural drama premiered in January 2018 and spawned the spin-off series 9-1-1: Lone Star. It stars Angela Bassett, Peter Krause. Oliver Stark, Aisha Hinds, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Kenneth Choi and Ryan Guzman. The show aired its first six seasons on FOX before it was canceled by the network in May 2023 and picked up by ABC.
Just one month after 9-1-1 was renewed for an eighth season, Rico Priem, who worked as a grip on the show, tragically passed away while on his way home from work. Read on for more details on the late crew member, including what the cast has said about him.
How did Rico Priem from 9-1-1 die?
Priem was on his way home from a 14-hour overnight shift on the procedural when he died from injuries sustained in a single-person car crash on the morning of May 12, 2024. The 9-1-1 crew had been shooting on location in Pomona, California, from late Friday night until early Saturday morning that week.
California Highway Patrol told our sister site TVLine that Priem was driving his Toyota Highlander on the 57 Freeway at Via Verde Drive in San Dimas when his vehicle left the roadway for unknown reasons, went up an embankment and flipped onto its roof. Priem was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of the crash, which was reported at 4:27 a.m. local time, is still under investigation.
“On behalf of the studio and everyone at 9-1-1, we send our sincere and deepest condolences to Rico Priem’s family and friends,” 20th Television, the studio behind the show, said in a statement. Priem was a member of the IATSE Local 80 union and had also worked as a grip on CBS’ S.W.A.T., Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, ABC’s The Company You Keep, Star Trek and Christmas With the Kranks.
IATSE Local 80 also released a statement, noting that they are “fully committed to the safety and the well-being of all our members.” The statement continued: “Workers have a reasonable expectation that they can get to work and come home safely. No one should be put in unsafe circumstances while trying to earn a living.”
Following his death, 9-1-1 honored Priem in a title card at the end of the series Season 7 finale, “All Fall Down.” “In memory of Rico Priem,” the slide read, along with a black-and-white photo of the crew member.
Angela Bassett, who stars as Athena Grant and serves as an executive producer on the show, spoke about the loss at the 2024 Disney/ABC Upfront event held on May 14. “The studio, 9-1-1, we all extend our deepest condolences to his friends to his family,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “It was just a very, very sad moment. We’re all rocked by it, certainly.”
“It’s the first time (we experience death). We have births, you know, we have weddings and now to experience this,” she continued. “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.”
Aisha Hinds, who plays Henrietta “Hen” Wilson, spoke out as well, sharing a lengthy tribute to Priem on Instagram. “Words….ever insufficient…none able to carry the harrowing heartbreak reverberating through our 9-1-1 family,” she wrote in part. “As the industry processes the passing of one of our invaluable and invested individuals—notably loyal, thus lauded and loved for his commitment to his craft and sharing the wisdom he’d gleaned from decades of working in this industry, hearts are heavy navigating feelings of grief and gratitude for the life of Rico Priem.”
She went on to call the crew the “unsung heroes” of the show, noting how “integral” the crew is to 9-1-1’s success. “In this moment, I want to express deep love for our crew, and give thanks and reverence for the legacy of Rico Priem,” she concluded.
