Alison Parker: Anchor Speaks About Reporter Girlfriend Hours After She Was Murdered On Live TV
Alison Parker, a 24-year-old Virginia news reporter with WDBJ, was viciously gunned down on live television by former co-worker Vester Lee Flanagan while performing an interview. The news anchor and the 27-year-old cameraman, Adam Ward, were both pronounced dead following the horrifying shooting, which was broadcast live on WDBJ as those in the news room looked on in horror. Just hours after the broadcast murder, Parker’s boyfriend, fellow news reporter Chris Hurst, took to Twitter to pay tribute to the woman he had planned to marry.
The Daily Mail reports that 28-year-old WDBJ health reporter, Christ Hurst, took to Twitter to speak about his relationship with Parker. Hurst says that they hadn’t made their relationship public yet, but that the couple had been together for nine months and had recently moved in together. He notes that the pair wanted to get married and that the past nine months was the “best nine months of our lives.”
We didn’t share this publicly, but @AParkerWDBJ7 and I were very much in love. We just moved in together. I am numb. pic.twitter.com/tUrHVwAXcN
— Chris Hurst (@chrishurstwdbj) August 26, 2015
We were together almost nine months. It was the best nine months of our lives. We wanted to get married.We just celebrated her 24th birthday — Chris Hurst (@chrishurstwdbj) August 26, 2015
She was the most radiant woman I ever met. And for some reason she loved me back. She loved her family, her parents and her brother.
— Chris Hurst (@chrishurstwdbj) August 26, 2015
Hurst also expressed grief for the passing of cameraman Adam Ward, noting that Alison and Adam had worked together every day, and that they “were a team.” Hurst went on to say he is heartbroken for Ward’s fiancée, who also worked for the news station.
I am comforted by everyone at @WDBJ7. We are a family. She worked with Adam every day. They were a team. I am heartbroken for his fiancee. — Chris Hurst (@chrishurstwdbj) August 26, 2015
News anchor Kimberly McBroom, the reporter who was in the newsroom when the deaths of Alison Parker and Chris Ward were broadcast live on television, also sent a tweet regarding the shooting. McBroom says “there are simply no words” right now to express the loss of two of her team members.
Heartbroken over the loss of two members of our @WDBJ7Mornin family…There are simply no words.
— Kimberly McBroom (@KimberlyWDBJ) August 26, 2015
WDBJ also paid tribute to their two fallen employees with a photo tribute of the fun times that Alison Parker and Adam Ward had together during their time as a team.
The Inquisitr reports that the alleged shooter of the two journalists on live television and interviewee Vicki Gardner has been identified as Vester Lee Flanagan. The 41-year-old man allegedly posted on social media while being pursued by the police, which included a first-person video account of the shooting. Flanagan is also allegedly known as Bryce Williams, and was on air with WDBJ for approximately one year using the name Bryce Williams. Reports indicate that Flanagan left behind a 23-page manifesto before attempting suicide following the brutal murders of Alison Parker and Adam Ward.
[Image Credit: WDBJ Twitter Tribute]
