Woman Killed in Hit and Run was Award-Winning Film Editor

Karen Schmeer, the 39-year-old woman run down Friday night by thieves allegedly escaping a pharmacy heist, was a well known film editor who had worked on major documentaries like Errol Morris’ “Fog of War”.

Schmeer was carrying groceries across Broadway at 90th Street on Friday night around 8 p.m. when a 2010 Dodge sedan heading north plowed into her. The men in the car were fleeing the police after stealing over-the-counter allergy drugs from a CVS on 86th Street, police and witnesses told the Daily News. One of the men was caught and charged with murder though two others apparently got away. Schmeer was pronounced dead at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital. (read our previous coverage here and here.)

Schmeer edited “Fog of War”, the documentary about former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara by famous documentarian Errol Morris. Schmeer won an editing award for the documentary “Sergio” at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009. The director on that film, Greg Barker, told the New York Times that Schmeer was “one of the greatest editors of her generation.” He planned to offer a tribute to her at the Sundance festival on Saturday. Check out her full roster of films here. And check out some clips from “Fog of War” below. (photo from Eleanor Dubois via The New York Times)