The Walking Dead Stuntman Dies After On-Set Injury

After suffering an injury on the set of The Walking Dead, stuntman Jon Bernecker has died.

News broke in the early afternoon that Bernecker had suffered a serious fall of 22 feet onto a concrete floor below. He was immediately taken to Atlanta Medical Center and rushed to intensive care. According to TMZ, Bernecker was shooting a fight scene that was supposed to end with a drop off a balcony, but the jump was imperfect and he missed the safety cushion by inches. The news of his death was first reported by Comicbook.com and confirmed with the medical examiner by TMZ. He succumbed to head injuries from the fall.

According to TMZ, Bernecker passed Thursday while surrounded by friends and family including his girlfriend, who is also a stunt performer on the show. He was 33.

AMC released a statement to Deadline after news of the accident broke: "We are saddened to report that John Bernecker, a talented stuntman for The Walking Dead and numerous other television shows and films, suffered serious injuries from a tragic accident on set. He was immediately transported to an Atlanta hospital, and we have temporarily shut down production. We are keeping John and his family in our thoughts and prayers."

The Walking Dead remembers stuntman John Bernecker

Meanwhile, SAG-AFTRA is already investigation the accident.

"We have been informed of a serious injury to a SAG-AFTRA member on the set of The Walking Dead and are investigating the situation," the union said in a statement. "As always, the safety and security of our members and others on set is of crucial concern to us and we are focused on this in our investigation. Our thoughts and prayers are with the performer and his family."

Cast and producers of The Walking Dead are set to head to Comic-Con next week. There's no word on when production of the series will resume.