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Father of Virginia TV shooting victim: I'll do 'whatever it takes' to reform gun laws Father of Virginia TV shooting victim: I'll do 'whatever it takes' to reform gun laws
(35 minutes later)
As journalists at the Virginia TV station WDBJ7 grieved openly for two colleagues who were shot and killed by a disgruntled former employee, the father of one of the victims, 24-year-old reporter Alison Parker, called for reform to America’s laws on gun control. As journalists at the Virginia TV station WDBJ7 grieved openly for two colleagues who were shot and killed by a disgruntled former employee, the father of one of the victims, reporter Alison Parker, called for reform to America’s laws on gun control.
Related: Virginia shooting: victim's father vows fight for greater gun control - liveRelated: Virginia shooting: victim's father vows fight for greater gun control - live
Parker and Adam Ward, 27, were killed in a terrifying attack that was broadcast to thousands of viewers on Wednesday. Chilling social-media posts by the killer also showed the shooting. Parker, 24, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27, were killed in a terrifying attack that was broadcast to thousands of viewers on Wednesday. Chilling social-media posts by the killer also showed the shooting.
Vicki Gardner, the head of the Smith Mountain Lake chamber of commerce who was being interviewed and filmed by Parker and Ward, was wounded. On Thursday, her husband said her condition was improving in hospital. Vicki Gardner, the head of the Smith Mountain Lake chamber of commerce who was being interviewed and filmed by Parker and Ward, was wounded in the attack.
On Wednesday night, Andy Parker told Fox News host Megyn Kelly he would do “whatever it takes to get gun legislation … to shame people, to shame legislators into doing something about closing loopholes in background checks and making sure crazy people don’t get guns”. On Wednesday night, Parker’s father, Andy Parker, told Fox News he would do “whatever it takes to get gun legislation … to shame people, to shame legislators into doing something about closing loopholes in background checks and making sure crazy people don’t get guns”.
On Thursday, three Mornin’ show anchors grieved openly in the first such broadcast since their colleagues were murdered. “Mark my words,” Parker said. “I’m going to do something ... This is not the last you’ve heard from me, this is something that is Alison’s legacy that I want to make happen.”
Anchors Kim McBroom and Steve Grant – the latter stepping in from sister station KYTV in Springfield, Missouri – and weatherman Leo Hirsbrunner held hands in silence at 6.45am as photographs of their two colleagues were displayed. Parker also spoke about the loss of his daughter in a statement. “Barbara, Drew, and I are numb, devastated and I find my grief unbearable,” he wrote of his family. “Alison was our bright, shining light and it was cruelly extinguished by yet another crazy person with a gun.”
The murders happened during a live report that was broadcast to roughly 40,000 viewers. They were carried out by a disturbed former colleague who had been urged to seek help before management dismissed him because of threatening behavior. Parker and her family had always stayed close, he said. “She loved us dearly, and we talked to her every single day,” he wrote. “Not hearing her voice again crushes my soul.”
“We come to you this morning with very heavy hearts,” McBroom told viewers on Thursday, at 5am. “Alison Parker and Adam Ward were part of our family here at the station and many of your have told us they were part of your mornings each day as well.” On Thursday, three Mornin’ show anchors on WDBJ7, the station where the victims worked, grieved openly in the first such broadcast since their colleagues were murdered.
Anchors Kim McBroom and Steve Grant – the latter stepping in from sister station KYTV in Springfield, Missouri – and weatherman Leo Hirsbrunner held hands in a moment of silence at 6.45am as photographs of their two colleagues were displayed.
McBroom – whose stunned face captured the shock of the shooting in the moments that followed it – returned to her desk. McBroom’s voice wobbled slightly as she said, “As we approach that moment we want to pause and reflect,” and then the broadcast cut to photos of Parker and Ward.
Related: Vester Flanagan told to seek medical help by Virginia TV station, say memosRelated: Vester Flanagan told to seek medical help by Virginia TV station, say memos
The murders happened during a live report on Wednesday that was broadcast to roughly 40,000 viewers. They were carried out by a disturbed former colleague who had been urged to seek help before management dismissed him because of threatening behavior.
“We come to you this morning with very heavy hearts,” McBroom told viewers on Thursday, at 5am. “Alison Parker and Adam Ward were part of our family here at the station and many of your have told us they were part of your mornings each day as well.”
She added: “We cannot express to you how much your support means to us. We’re needing everyone’s help and love and support right now.”She added: “We cannot express to you how much your support means to us. We’re needing everyone’s help and love and support right now.”
The broadcast was not just emotional for the station’s staff.The broadcast was not just emotional for the station’s staff.
During his forecast Thursday morning, Hirsbrunner’s voice trembled as he recalled how Ward would check in with him every morning, before going out on assignment.During his forecast Thursday morning, Hirsbrunner’s voice trembled as he recalled how Ward would check in with him every morning, before going out on assignment.
“I don’t even know how to do weather on a day like this,” he said.“I don’t even know how to do weather on a day like this,” he said.
McBroom told him: “Good job, partner. We’re going to get through this together.”McBroom told him: “Good job, partner. We’re going to get through this together.”
Later in the morning news director Kelly Zuber called the station’s staff in for its regular morning meeting, and started handing out story assignments. “She told us that the best way to honor Alison and Adam was to keep reporting the news,” said Trevor Fair, a veteran cameraman. “It does hurt. We are all still in shock.”
Fair had trained Parker and Ward when they were college interns at the station. They seemed impossibly young and eager, as he drove them around Roanoke on small assignments. “I’d show them how to use the camera, how to ask questions,” he said. “They were good.”
Parker planned to marry a co-worker, anchor Chris Hurst, who wrote on Twitter: “She was the most radiant woman I ever met.”
After her college internship, Parker started her career in Jacksonville, North Carolina, where she worked for WCTI NewsChannel 12. Then she moved back to Roanoke to report for WDBJ7.
In the meantime Ward had graduated from Virginia Tech and joined the station’s staff as a photographer. The two worked together on stories for the morning show, from staid business reports to lighthearted features.
Hurst wrote: “She worked with Adam every day. They were a team. I am heartbroken for his fiancee.”
Ward had also been engaged to a colleague, producer Melissa Ott, who witnessed his death live from the control room, and was taken to a local hospital afterward. She has asked for privacy, and paid tribute to him in a private post on Facebook. His family have also been silent.
The third person shot in Flanagan’s rampage, 62-year-old Gardner, lost a kidney and a section of her large intestine. She went back into surgery Thursday afternoon, as doctors worked to repair damage. “I think she’s going to be okay,” said her daughter Erin Arnold. “My mom and dad have so many friends, it’s a whole community.”
She paused and added: “I can only hope that the families of the people who lost their lives have communities too.”
The killer, former reporter Vester Lee Flanagan II, who went by the name Bryce Williams on air, later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.The killer, former reporter Vester Lee Flanagan II, who went by the name Bryce Williams on air, later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Additional reporting by Alan Yuhas in New York