In news more tragic than his drop-crotch pants, Justin Bieber is now a leading cause of death among the paparazzi. A photographer died trying to photograph the star -- and he didn't even get the money shot he was looking for.

TMZ reports that Bieber's white Ferrari was pulled over in Los Angeles when Chris Guerra, a 29-year-old paparazzo who'd been following the Biebs, got out of his car and started snapping photos.

Radar Online says that California Highway Patrol officers twice ordered the photog back to his own ride because the situation was unsafe. During the fracas, an oncoming car struck Guerra, who died at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. 

The tragic irony is Bieber wasn't even in the Ferrari at the time -- rapper Lil Twist was reportedly behind the wheel, and someone else was a passenger.

However, the 18-year-old Canadian phenom, who has been to court in recent months over paparazzi chases, released an eloquent statement about the sad situation:

"While I was not present nor directly involved with this tragic accident, my thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victim. Hopefully this tragedy will finally inspire meaningful legislation and whatever other necessary steps to protect the lives and safety of celebrities, police officers, innocent public bystanders, and the photographers themselves."

Meanwhile, Miley Cyrus took to Twitter to express her own thoughts about the situation, writing in a series of tweets, "Hope this paparazzi/JB accident brings on some changes in ’13 Paparazzi are dangerous! Wasn’t Princess Di enough of a wake up call?! ... It is unfair for anyone to put this on to Justin’s conscious as well! This was bound to happen! Your mom teaches u when your a child not to play in the street! The chaos that comes with the paparazzi acting like fools makes it impossible for anyone to make safe choices.”

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