Production halted on “The Walking Dead” following death of stuntman John Bernecker

Tragic news unfolded from the set of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” after it was reported that veteran stuntman John Bernecker died on the set after a choreographed fall from a 20 foot balcony went fatally wrong. The fall occurred July 12 on the set of TWD. TMZ reported that when Bernecker hit the ground, he missed his safety cushion by only scant inches and landed directly on a concrete slab. Suffering blunt force trauma to the head as a result of the fall, Bernecker was choppered to the Atlanta Medical Center, was placed on a ventilator, but later died from his injuries.

After authorities were called to the scene, Assistant director Matthew Goodwin told police that Bernecker “didn’t appear to get good separation from the balcony when he started falling, and even attempted to abort the fall by grabbing onto the railing with both hands.” Goodwin went on to say that the stuntman’s momentum while falling forward “slammed him into the bottom of the balcony and then he released his hands and fell … landing on his head and neck … right next to the cushion.”

In addition to being a veteran stuntman, Bernecker was also a highly respected fight choreographer. According to his IMDB bio, he had contributed to such projects as “Black Panther,” “Logan,” “Fantastic Four,” “Olympus Has Fallen,” “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” and “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay” – to name only a few.

“The Walking Dead” is currently in its eighth season of production. That production was temporarily halted in light of the fatal accident. Variety reported that the SAG-AFTRA guild and the Atlanta office of the Occupational Safety and the Health Administration (OSHA) have ongoing investigations into the accident.