TV anchor Kimberly McBroom stunned in seconds after Virginia on-air shooting
Date
August 27, 2015 - 10:44AM
Megan Levy

Vester Flanagan, also known as TV reporter Bryce Wiliams, wrote in a manifesto that it was the Charleston shooting massacre that ultimately drove him to fire upon two of his former colleagues.

The stunned expression on the face of television anchor Kimberly McBroom​ summed up the sheer disbelief surrounding what appeared to have just played out during the live breakfast broadcast.

Amid the sounds of screams and gunfire ringing out, Virginia station WDBJ7-TV quickly switched its live television feed back to the studio at 6.45am on Wednesday, local time, where McBroom was trying to make sense of what had just occurred.

At first wide-eyed and open-mouthed, McBroom quickly regained her composure to tell viewers she would find out what had happened.

"OK, not sure what happened there," McBroom said, remarkably calmly.

"We will of course let you know as soon as we find out what those sounds were from."

Soon, station general manager Jeff Marks went on air to deliver the distressing news: reporter Alison Parker, 24, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27, had been shot dead during their live report from a shopping centre district near Moneta​ in Virginia.

"It is my very, very sad duty to report that we have determined through the police and our own employees that Alison and Adam died this morning," Marks said. "Our hearts are broken."

An estimated 40,000 people were tuned in to the station when the on-air shootings took place, according to US news reports.

The person Parker was interviewing, Vicki Gardner, executive director of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce, was shot in the back and has since undergone surgery.

The shooter, Vester Flanagan, died in hospital as result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He had shot himself while being pursued by police, authorities said.

Marks also appeared in a noon broadcast, when Flanagan was still clinging to life in hospital.

"I'm going to step out of my role as a former journalist and say I'm not sure if I want him to live or die," Marks said during the broadcast. "If he dies, he took the coward's way out."

Later, McBroom expressed her grief on social media following the deaths of her colleagues.



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Black, gay and gun violence.

Media will have an absolute feast.

-PB

Institutionalised racial and gender discrimination plus wild west gun laws and this is the result. This is not hard to understand but what is impossible to fathom is how the redneck republican right continue to allow this to happen with their outdated ideological principles.

This dude claimed that he was racially discriminated against, but it's clear that he's a fucking nutcase.

He confessed to killing his cats in his manifesto (in fact, writing a manifesto before doing something like this to somehow justify yourself is crazy in and of itself), he was reported to human resources for anger issues or something by a co-worker and when he was fired, all the employees had to stay in a room while he was escorted out by police officers, he justified these shootings by saying it was for the victims of the massacre at the black church and above all he murdered two innocent people and wounded a third in broad daylight on live TV because he was fired by the journalists' new station two years ago, recorded the shooting with a chest mounted camera, uploaded it to social media and then killed himself.

One of the worst things about this is the two victims were dating people who worked with them and one of their partner's was in the control room watching the live feed when he was murdered.

Not only is it sickening that pro and anti gun activists haven't even waited for the bodies to go cold to start debating again, it's pointless. The NRA has shown that they're willing to deal with thirty children being slaughtered just before Christmas by a psychopath who has just committed matricide, what the hell will two more deaths do, televised or not?

Institutionalised racial and gender discrimination plus wild west gun laws and this is the result. This is not hard to understand but what is impossible to fathom is how the redneck republican right continue to allow this to happen with their outdated ideological principles.

And when Tone says no to a weapon that can fire 8 rounds in 8 seconds peanuts complain.

In before Paulbagz. :lol: 8-[

A black gay man could never be accountable for murdering people.

Institutionalised racial and gender discrimination plus wild west gun laws and this is the result. This is not hard to understand but what is impossible to fathom is how the redneck republican right continue to allow this to happen with their outdated ideological principles.

And when Tone says no to a weapon that can fire 8 rounds in 8 seconds peanuts complain.

He's a perfect illustration for universal background checks. Databasing someone like this with all those warning signs would go a long way to stop crazy people from owning guns and committing these acts. It also helps ensure they receive the proper care and medications they require . Of course this is not foolproof but every little piece of progression helps toward the goal.

I reckon that people wishing to own a gun in the U.S should also have to provide the contact details of several family members or close friends who would be able to say whether or not the person should be allowed to own a gun.

muh freedum

Not all muslims are terrorists but all gun owners are ? never followed that logic

If Alison Parker or Adam Ward had a gun this would not have happened - pro gun logic -_-

RIP.

Whilst these massacres grab the headlines (understandably), they actually aren't even the biggest risk when it comes to gun deaths. Its the massive amount of murders that occur between families, neighbours, suicides etc that account for the higher US murder rate.

Quite simply, when domestic or neighbourly arguments escalate, easy access to guns means people die instead of getting punched or stabbed.

The US "freedom" argument has always seemed silly to me - what about the [size=7]freedom to be safe[/size]?

Just saw the videos, pretty fucked up.

R.I.P.

Edited by iridium1010: 27/8/2015 03:02:48 PM

Where did you see the videos?

And when Tone says no to a weapon that can fire 8 rounds in 8 seconds peanuts complain.