'He quickly gathered a reputation of someone who was difficult to work with.After many incidents of his anger, we dismissed him. Ward's live shot then cut to a stunned anchor in the WDBJ studio, who along with her colleagues began to report the news.įlanagan, 41, was at WDBJ between 20 as a multimedia journalist, WDBJ General Manager Jeff Marks said Wednesday. When he fell to the floor, he captured a blurry image of the shooter that was then widely distributed. When Ward was shot, his footage captured Parker's reaction. Overton added that Flanagan, who also went by Bryce Williams on television, was the only suspect. “I think that if she was in your situation, having to cover a story like this, she would probably want the people who knew her best to go on camera, so I’ll do that for all of you guys, too.In two of his own videos of the incident that were posted – and later removed – on Twitter and Facebook, suspected gunman Vester Lee Flanagan II walked up to the three people and held the gun at them for several seconds before opening fire on the cameraman and then a shocked Parker.įlanagan 'appeared and approached them and started shooting,' Overton said. This was supposed to be a very happy time for Alison and myself and for Adam and Melissa, and now it is just devastated everybody inside,” Hurst said. “They were going to have a party for her. On Wednesday, Parker brought in balloons and wine for Ward’s fiancee in honor of her departure for the new job. “You could not be around him and not have a wonderful conversation.” “He was quite a talker, and he loved sports and politics,” Denton said. Robert Denton, head of the communications department at Virginia Tech, said he handed Ward his diploma when he graduated from the Blacksburg school in 2011. “He was the kind of guy you wanted to be around, especially at three in the morning,” said Jay Webb, a former meteorologist at WDBJ.

He was a “happy-go-lucky guy” - even during the early morning hours. He rarely, if ever, missed a Hokies game. He was a devoted fan of his alma mater, Virginia Tech. But you know, the time is going to sneak up me.” “We were talking about the future,” Talley said, noting that Parker said, “I’m always looking ahead. Talley said she talked to Parker on Tuesday. You don’t find that every day,” said Ashley Talley, who was assistant news director at WCTI-TV in New Bern, North Carolina, when she hired Parker right out of college. She was proactive and good at making connections that help boost a reporter’s career. Parker was a highly motivated reporter who was perhaps destined to be a network anchor. She graduated from James Madison University and interned at a few stations, including WDBJ. “The spicier, the better,” she said in the video. She enjoyed the arts, playing trumpet and French horn in high school. They were “like brother and sister” because they worked so closely on the morning shift together, Hurst said.Ī native of Martinsville, about 45 minutes from Roanoke, Parker said in a promotional video for the station that the “most thrilling” thing she ever did was take a trip to the Grand Canyon with her family and ride horseback down the canyon. They covered everything from breaking news to stories about child abuse. Parker and Ward worked as a team for the station’s “Mornin“’ show, a time-slot where many broadcast journalists get their start.

Virginia cameraman