‘We were very much in love. We wanted to get married’

MANILA, Philippines – It is impossible to say how much they were loved, said the head of a local broadcast station in the US now coping with the sudden murder of two of their employees. 

“Our hearts are broken,” said Jeffrey A. Marks, WDBJ-7‘s general manager, during a broadcast after the shooting. (READ: 2 US TV journalists killed)

Alison Parker, 24, and Adam Ward, 27, were killed during an early morning live broadcast on Wednesday, August 26, at Bridgewater Plaza in Virginia, USA.

Parker, a reporter for CBS, was in the middle of an interview with a member of the local chamber of commerce when a number of shots rang out.

Ward’s camera swung left, and captured the blurry image of a man dressed in black. 

Marks quoted officials as saying that a man “barged into where they were and fired.” 

“We do not know the motive, we do not know who the suspect or who the killer is,” he said, adding that he is contact with the police. 

“We heard screaming, and then we heard nothing, and the camera fell,”Marks was quoted in a New York Times report. “We are choosing not to run the video of that right now because, frankly, we don’t need to see it again, and our staff doesn’t need to see it again.”

A recent report by the Washington Post quotes Virgnia Governor Terry McAuliffe saying that the suspect is “a disgruntled former WDBJ employee.”

‘They were both in love’

Ward was a graduate of Salem High School and Virginia Tech.

Parker went to Patrick Henry Community College and James Madison University, where she graduated with honors in 2012. She celebrated her birthday only a week before. 

“I cannot tell you how much they were loved, Alison and Adam, by the WDBJ 7 team,” Marks said. “They both were in love with other members of the team here, and our hearts are broken.”

Ward, he said, was engaged to one of the station’s producers, Melissa Ott. Ott had accepted another job in Charlotte, and had just wrapped up her last show that morning. The team celebrated, Park had brought balloons.

Ward, who began as a member of the production crew in 2011, told one of the anchors that he was thinking of giving up the news and following his fiancee to Charlotte. 

Marks added that Parker was also in a relationship with Christ Hurst, an anchor for the station. 

‘We just moved in together’

In a Facebook post after the incident, Hurst said he and Parker had just moved in together.

“We didn’t share this publicly, but Alison Parker and I were very much in love. We just moved in together. I am numb. 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. 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. I am comforted by everyone atWDBJ7. We are a family. She worked with Adam every day. They were a team. I am heartbroken for his fiancee. She is our morning show producer. This is unconscionable. But I WILL share her story because it is one full of life, dreams, love and amazing journalism. She just finished working on an incredible special on child abuse and it was fantastic. We will get through this and there will be justice. Your thoughts and prayers mean the world to me.”

“She’s a rockstar,” said anchor Kimberly McBroom, whose shocked face replaced the live feed after shots rang out in Bridgewater Plaza. “You can throw anything at that girl and she could do it.”

CNN reports that Parker’s interviewee Vicki Gardner, executive director of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce, had been shot in the back but is now in surgery.  – Rappler.com