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Twitter Fail Of The Day: Former 'Baywatch' Actress Incorrectly Reports Suicide Of Stephen Collins

When it comes to investigative journalism the first thing is to always verify your facts. Always. However, when it comes to retweeting a breaking news story that doesn't need apply—instead just follow that well used online mantra "If it's on the internet, it must be true, right?"

7th Heaven actor Stephen Collins has been in the news recently after TMZ reported that he'd confessed to molesting a child to his wife, which is now being investigated by police.

And it just so happens he lives in the same part of town, in Tarzana, CA, as former Baywatch actress Donna D'Errico, who tweeted that the 7th Heaven actor had committed suicide after a local news crew thought they heard gunshot sounds coming from the actor's home.

donna

Except he hadn't committed suicide and those weren't gunshots, just some noises that sounded like it. But that didn't stop D’Errico from entering full on roving crime reporter mode and following that tweet with a shot of the scene outside the actor's house.

But when people starting tweeting at her with a quizzical "WHAAAT?", she started to step back from her original conclusion.

Cue some embarrassing backpedaling...

Thankfully a real police officer was on hand to offer D'Errico some advice.

So, just to clear up. Stephen Collins didn't commit suicide on Tuesday night. He wasn't even home.

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