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Two News People Shot, Killed, On Air in Virginia


Fragile Bird

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A news reporter and her cameraman were shot and killed while doing an interview on air in a Virginia shopping mall this morning.
 

The CBS News affiliate announced on television that reporter Alison Parker, 24, and photographer Adam Ward , 27, were killed during the incident.

Another person was reportedly injured in the shooting that happened while Parker was conducting an interview with another woman outside a shopping mall.

Both women screamed in horror as at least seven shots were fired. The photojournalist appears to collapse on the ground, dropping the camera.

Station General Manager Jeffery A. Marks confirmed the deaths just after 8 a.m.

Our hearts are broken, said Marks. They were just out doing their job today.

VIDEO: Fighting back tears, WDBJ7 news team remembers Alison Parker and Adam Ward.


http://globalnews.ca/news/2186031/gunman-opens-fire-during-live-tv-news-report-2-journalists-killed/?utm_source=Article&utm_medium=MostPopular&utm_campaign=2014

I repeat. They were on air. There is video, which I have not looked at, be warned.


My undergraduate degree is in Journalism. I have been a reporter for newspapers as well as (university) radio and television. We don't know what the motivation is yet, perhaps it was personal to one of the reporters, or if the station WDBJ was being targeted.

Hearing about reporters murdered overseas is something I'm used to now (still shocked and horrified, it's just that the numbers are so high), but seeing news people murdered in a shopping mall in Virginia is stunning.

RIP, Alison Parker and Adam Ward.
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http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/251977-news-crew-gunned-down-on-live-tv

 A news crew for a CBS affiliate in Virginia was gunned down during a live report near the Bedford County-Franklin County line in Moneta early Wednesday morning, law enforcement officials said.

 

Police and emergency services were on the scene, which remains active. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is also involved in the investigation.

 

WDBJ7 reporter Allison Parker, 24, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27, were killed by an unidentified assailant who approached the pair as they were filming an interview at the Bridgewater Plaza and fired in their direction as many as eight times.

 

Footage of the shooting aired live during the channel’s morning news broadcast.

Vicki Gardner, the director of the local chamber of commerce who was being interviewed by the two journalists  at the time of the shooting, was shot in the back and is in surgery, according to the Roanoke Times

 

:(

 

eta: Please go ahead and delete or merge topic with Fragile Bird's thread

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I've been following the story this morning; although I've refused to watch the video. So tragic, and so seemingly pointless. The murderer hasn't been caught yet though, so there's no use speculating on a motive. 

 

Apparently Adam Ward's girlfriend was a producer at the station and she was watching live in the station control room when it happened. I can't even imagine going through that.

 

ETA: Okay, the Governor just announced that the killer was a "disgruntled station worker" and that police are currently pursuing him up I-81.

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It is rare that something that happens in the news affects me, but this certainly has. It is horrible. Such a seemingly innocuous report turns into a terrible tragedy. 

 

I will be praying for all those affected by this. 

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I just saw this flash up on the news app notification. Terribly sad news :(
(I watched the video, you don't see anything. You hear shots and screams from the reporter though, which are distressing).
The article I read said the person they were interviewing survived though.
It's a horrible thing to happen, RIP to them :(
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I just saw this flash up on the news app notification. Terribly sad news :(
(I watched the video, you don't see anything. You hear shots and screams from the reporter though, which are distressing).
The article I read said the person they were interviewing survived though.
It's a horrible thing to happen, RIP to them :(

 

Ffs...that video...I think the... like you said, you don't see anything in the video...just hear shots and screams...but the look on the desk reporter's face, the pure shock...

 

RIP, and all thoughts for their families and loved ones this morning.

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Ffs...that video...I think the... like you said, you don't see anything in the video...just hear shots and screams...but the look on the desk reporter's face, the pure shock...
 
RIP, and all thoughts for their families and loved ones this morning.

Yes, for all there is little seen, it's still horrific. I can't imagine how awful it must have been for their fellow news reporters when they cut back to the station.
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...um...the shooter is named Bryce Williams. He was posting on Twitter and...he filmed himself doing the shooting. I saw it. Evil. Twitter almost immediately suspended the account.

 

there is another name going around, Vester Lee Flanagan, but it's the same dude.

 

Martin MacMahon @martinmacmahon 2m2 minutes ago

Shocking. Suspect in Virginia shooting, Vester Flanagan/Bryce Williams has posted a 1st person video of the shooting on Twitter.

 

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Tragic and horrifying. I think I saw someone on Twitter remarking that we're entering an episode of BLACK MIRROR, with a murderer live-tweeting and splashing out to social media footage of his crimes.

 

Clearly a very disturbed person.

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