Remembering Virginia newscasters Alison Parker and Adam Ward
This morning, the world lost two talented, devoted newscasters from the WDBJ7 news crew. Alison Parker, 24, and Adam Ward, 27, were conducting a live interview at the Bridgewater Plaza in Moneta, Virginia when a gunman opened fire on the crew, fatally wounding Parker and Ward. CBS News confirmed that the shooter is Vester Lee Flanagan II, also known as Bryce Williams, a former employee who later turned the gun on himself. The story is still ongoing.
Parker started her career as an intern with the news crew and quickly moved up, becoming a morning reporter covering Roanoke, Virginia. A lover of the outdoors, she graduated in 2012 from James Madison University, where she was the news editor for her university’s newspaper, The Breeze, BuzzFeed reports. Parker had been dating the station’s 6 o’clock news anchor, Chris Hurst, for the past nine months. “We didn’t share this publicly, but [Parker] and I were very much in love,” Hurst tweeted this morning, along with a picture of the two of them. “We just moved in together. I am numb.”
“She was the most radiant woman I ever met,” Hurst tweeted. “And for some reason she loved me back. She loved her family, her parents and her brother.”
Ward was a photojournalist for WDBJ7 who graduated in 2011 from Virginia Tech. “Adam was a delightful person,” professor and chair of the Department of Communications Robert Denton, who taught and worked with Ward, said in a statement. “He worked hard – you could tell he loved what he was doing. He wasn’t afraid to pitch in and do whatever was necessary for the broadcast. He did whatever was needed with a smile and with grace. He was simply a very nice young man and very professional.”
Ward was engaged to Melissa Ott, a former WDBJ7 producer who had just accepted a job in Charlotte. The two were to move there together and get married next summer. Ott saw the shooting happen live when she was in the station, according to CNN’s Brian Stelter.
Ward and Parker worked together daily as a team, and they were “two fine journalists,” according to WDBJ7 vice president Jeffrey Marks. “I cannot tell you how much they were loved. Alison and Adam by the WBDJ team,” Marks said. “Our hearts are broken. . . Our teams are working on [the story] right now through the tears.”
Roanoke Times journalist Cameron Austin worked alongside the pair, describing them as “the nicest people you would ever meet.”
The nation is in mourning for two young, bright journalists filled with potential whose lives were snatched away much, much too soon. Our hearts are with the staff at WDBJ7 staff and loved ones as this unbelievably heartbreaking and senseless tragedy unfolds.
Images via Facebook, Twitter
