A news reporter and cameraman were killed Wednesday morning in a shooting that was captured during a live TV broadcast outside of Roanoke, Virginia.
The shooting happened during a WDBJ7 live report, the station said, and claimed the lives of morning reporter Alison Parker and her cameraman Adam Ward.
WDBJ’s general manager appeared live on air to tell viewers, “It’s my very, very sad duty to report… that Alison and Adam died this morning.”
The station tweeted, “We love you, Alison and Adam.”
We love you, Alison and Adam. pic.twitter.com/hLSzQi06XE
— WDBJ7 (@WDBJ7) August 26, 2015
Parker was 27. Ward was 24.
How Alison Parker & Adam Ward should be remembered instead of the horrific video [via New York Daily News] pic.twitter.com/KoNjJOqr7k
— Shawn Reynolds (@ShawnRTV6) August 26, 2015
The woman whom they were interviewing, Vicki Gardner, head of the SML Chamber of Commerce, was shot in the back and she is currently in surgery, the Roanoke Times reported.
Police are now searching for the man who fired the shots. The area was blocked off following the shooting. Schools in the area were put on lockdown as officials searched for the shooter.
Parker was interviewing a woman at Bridgewater Plaza near Smith Mountain Lake, a reservoir community about 50 miles southeast of Roanoke, when a half dozen shots broke out.
Viewers heard screams and “Oh my God!” as Parker ran away, before the feed cut back to a visibly disturbed anchor in the newsroom, who said, “OK not sure what happened there. We will of course let you know as soon as we find out what those sounds were.”
2 journalists dead in shooting during live TV broadcast in Virginia….