Tragedy struck the WDJB news team in Virginia when a reporter and camera man were shot and killed during a live broadcast.
A news reporter and cameraman were killed this morning in Virginia state park when a gunman opened fire on them while they were broadcasting live.
During the live broadcast on Smith Mountain Lake's 50th anniversary, shots are heard as the reporter and a park official are heard screaming. The cameraman gets hit ands falls to the ground, dropping the camera.
For a moment, the camera captures the gunman as he fired his handgun before producers cut the live shot.
WDBJ confirmed that reporter Alison Parker, 24, and photographer Adam Ward, 27, were killed.
Vicki Gardner, head of the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce, was shot in the back while conducting an interview with Parker. WDBJ anchor Chris Hurst, Parker’s boyfriend, had to witness this horrible event from the control room.
“You send people to cover war zones, you worry,” said Jeff Marks, the station’s general manager. “You send them on a tourism story, you’d never expect this.”
The nightmare continued when the gunman was identified as disgruntled former WDBJ employee Vester Lee Flanagan II.
Flanagan (who went by the name Bryce Williams while working at WDJB) posted a video of him carrying out the shooting on his Facebook page and wrote about it on Twitter.
After being pursued by troopers on I-66 in Faquier County, Flanagan shot himself and is now in critical condition.
“There are too many guns in the hands of people who shouldn’t have guns,” said Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. “I’m a gun owner, I own guns, but I went through background checks to get (them).”
Our deepest condolences go out to the families of Alison Parker and Adam Ward, as well as their entire WDJB family.
-Saher K: OTG Team
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ora Media, LLC its affiliates, or its employees.
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