Gunman shoots reporter and cameraman dead on live TV morning show: Hunt for killer who was caught in horrifying video of attack
- Local CBS news station WDBJ has confirmed that reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward have died
- Vicki Gardner, the local chamber of commerce director, was also shot in the back and was taken to the hospital for emergency surgery
- The incident happened at 6:45am near Moneta, Virginia
- Ward was filming Parker interview a woman in the area when about eight gunshots were heard
- Video of the broadcast shows Parker and the other woman scream and duck after gunshots ring out and the camera falls to the floor
- A person wearing all black is then seen holding up a gun in one hand
- Police are reportedly chasing the shooter on Interstate 54
- WARNING: Video of the shooting may be disturbing
A disgruntled employee at a small Virginia news station is believed to be behind a deadly early morning shooting that was caught on live TV.
The unidentified gunman shot dead reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward as the two were conducting a live interview with Vicki Gardner, the local chamber of commerce director, at 6:45am.
Suddenly eight shots ring out and screams are heard as the women duck down and the camera falls to the floor. The camera is still running as a person dressed in all black appears and aims a gun at Ward.
Parker, 24, and Ward, 27, died at the scene while Gardner was rushed to Roanoke Memorial Hospital for emergency surgery.
Police have yet to identify the suspect but they say they know the person's name and are reportedly chasing the shooter on Interstate 54. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe says the gunman is believed to be a disgruntled employee of the station.'It's my very very sad duty to report... that Alison and Adam died this morning,' WDBJ's general manager came on the air to say after the incident.
Gardner was also shot in the back in the attack and was taken to the hospital where she was last reported in surgery.
About 30 to 40 police officers are in the area, trying to track down the shooter.
A spokesman with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries confirmed that half of their department are searching the scene on shoreline and surrounding area for the shooting.
Meanwhile the Dudley, Burnt Chimney and Windy Gap elementary schools as well as Bedford County school have been placed on lockdown.
No description of the suspect has been released yet.
Both Parker and Ward were in relationships with other employees at the news station. Ward was engaged to Melissa Ott, a news producer who was working on the show that morning and watched from the control room as the shooting happened.
It was Ott's last day on the job. She was about to start a new job in Charlotte, North Carolina and Ward planned to move with her. The crew had a party earlier that morning to celebrate her last day.
Parker's boyfriend of nine months was WDBJ public safety and mental health reporter Chris Hurst, 28.
The couple had just moved in together. Hurst took to Twitter to convey his unfathomable pain:
'It was the best nine months of our lives. We wanted to get married.We just celebrated her 24th birthday,' he wrote.
Hurst only revealed the relationship to viewers after the tragedy.
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