Vicki Gardner: Third Bryce Williams Victim In Stable Condition Following Surgery

Vicki Gardner is in stable condition following the horrific shooting of reporters Adam Ward and Alison Parker.

The executive director for the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce, was the third shooting victim of Roanoke gunman Vester Lee Flanagan II (aka Bryce Williams, former WDBJ employee) on Wednesday morning.

After spending most of the day in surgery, Gardner, WDBJ was able to confirm, had been moved to recovery.

In today’s noon broadcast, the news team had this to say about the third victim, who has flown largely under the radar of many news sites since the tragedy unfolded.

“There was a third victim that we definitely need to mention, Vicki Gardner, who is an employee with Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce. Alison was actually interviewing her this morning live. She is out of surgery. She is in stable condition, and hopefully will recover. That is the little bit of good news we have to report from this incident.”

KCRA reported comments from Chamber board chairman Troy Keaton, who described Gardner as “an exceptional bright light in this community.”

“We stand with her 100 percent and are praying for her and are thankful that she is in stable condition and is in good hands,” Keaton said. “We just want her to know, and this community to know, that Vicki has been a champion for us for more than a decade. We’re going to get together as a community and stay together and make it through this.”

The noon team continued to keep viewers up to date on what was going on with Bryce Williams, who shot himself “as police were closing in” and died later from his injuries.

https://youtu.be/bMzv_GOUxDU

Wednesday’s shooting went viral in a hurry, with Google Alerts announcing earlier in the day that Parker’s name had been searched more than 200,000 times a few hours after the incident.

When it became apparent that Williams was responsible for killing the two reporters and wounding Vicki Gardner, the name “Bryce Williams” was searched over 2 million times in a two-hour period.

Williams had accused WDBJ as well as other former employers of racial discrimination in the past. He reportedly filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against the station naming Alison Parker and adding on his now-defunct Twitter that Ward had gone to HR with a complaint about him.

The EEOC found there was no basis for the complaint, WDBJ noted in the above broadcast.

As for Vicki Gardner, there is no word, other than “stable,” regarding her condition, but the Inquisitr will keep you posted of any further changes.

[Image via Vicki Gardner Family]