I’m not here to talk about gun control. I’m not here to talk about America’s staggering mass shooting rate. There will be no advocacy in this piece. This piece is solely to talk about a tragedy that took place this morning in Virginia, where, during a live report, a broadcast journalist and a cameraman were killed on-air.
Early this morning, WDBJ broadcast journalist Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward were at Bridgewater Plaza in Moneta, Va. They were interviewing Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce director Vicki Gardner at 6:45 a.m. EST when several shots rang out. The camera drops while Parker and Gardner duck to the ground, screaming. Just before the feed cuts back to the station’s anchor, the camera, which was still running, caught an image of the shooter, who appeared to be pointing a gun at Ward.
Alison Parker and Adam Ward were dead at the scene.
Around 30 to 40 police officers, as well as the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, are actively looking for the shooter. Schools in nearby Dudley, meanwhile, have been placed on lockdown.
No description of the shooter has been released.
I have decided not to embed the video of the shooting. If anyone wishes to see it, the video can be found here.
Following the shooting, authorities identified the gunman as former WDBJ employee Vester Lee Flanagan II. Flanagan reported for WDBJ as Bryce Williams. He began posting messages and social media updates regarding the shooting at around 11 a.m., before ultimately committing suicide following a police chase.
Honestly, I don’t have much of a final thought on what happened in Virginia this morning. I don’t have anything to say really, other than the shooting of WDBJ broadcast journalist Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward is tragedy. My thoughts are with their loved ones, especially Adam Ward’s fiancee and Alison Parker’s boyfriend, who both worked at the station and watched the shooting unfold from the station’s control room.
Broadcast journalist Alison Parker had just turned 24 years old. She was a graduate of James Madison University and news editor for JMU’s nationally-recognized newspaper, The Breeze. Adam Ward was a graduate of Virginia Tech University. Parker and Ward worked together often on WDBJ stories.
For additional information, including social media response, see our additional coverage here.
Featured image via Facebook
