Watch CBS News

War Correspondent Michael Hastings Dies In SoCal Car Crash

LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) -- Award-winning journalist and war correspondent Michael Hastings has died in a car accident in Los Angeles.

BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith said he learned from a family member that the 33-year-old died early Tuesday.

Hastings wrote about politics for the popular news site and has written books dealing with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He won a Polk Award for magazine reporting for his Rolling Stone cover story "The Runaway General."

The story was credited with ending Gen. Stanley McChrystal's career after it revealed the military's candid criticisms of the Obama administration.

There was a car crash early Tuesday in the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles that killed a man, but coroner's officials could not confirm whether Hastings was the victim.

(Copyright 2013 CBS San Francisco. All rights reserved.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.