On the first anniversary of the deadly shooting of two journalists on live television, the TV station they worked at held an on-air moment of silence to remember them.
Friday marks one year since reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward were gunned down at close range during a broadcast. Ward was 27. Parker was 24.
"Our hearts are heavy today and I'm sure your hearts are too. It was exactly one year ago that we lost our dear friends Alison Parker and Adam Ward. A lot of you were watching at that time," WDBJ anchor Kimberly McBroom began in the morning remembrance.
Parker and Ward were "two beautiful, wonderful people, and we miss them every single day," McBroom continued, asking viewers to join them in a moment of silence.
Then, without music or narration, photos of Parker and Ward flipped on screen for 1 minute 30 seconds.
"A year ago right now, we were all traumatized," Jeff Marks, who was the general manager at the Roanoke-based CBS affiliate and now works for the station's corporate owner, told NBC News Friday. "I went through that morning in my mind again this morning. What happened now, what happened next."
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Vester Flanagan II, who had been fired from the station, shot the journalists as Parker interviewed Vicki Gardner, a local chamber of commerce official, and Ward operated the camera. Flanagan killed himself as police pursued him; Gardner lived to tell about the deadly attack.
Parker's boyfriend, WDBJ anchor Chris Hurst, told The Roanoke Times he would spend the day with "some of those Alison loved most, and that will help," he said by email.
Amid his grief, he told the paper he was "humbled by the kindness and generosity people have shown after the murders."
