We'll be back, folks, vows anchor

28 August 2015 - 09:56 By AFP, Staff reporter

Staff at a television station in Virginia, US, yesterday observed a moment of silence for two co-workers shot dead the day before during a live broadcast. The killings of reporter Alison Parker, 24, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27, as they conducted an interview - and the footage posted online by the gunman - prompted renewed calls for tougher gun-control measures.The shooter, Vester Lee Flanagan, 41, also known as Bryce Williams, fatally shot himself after fleeing the scene. He had sent a rambling manifesto to ABC News, saying he was a "human powder keg . just waiting to go BOOM!!!!""We will, over time, heal from this," said a grief-stricken morning anchor, Kimberly McBroom, holding hands with two colleagues on the set yesterday. The moment of silence was observed at 6.45am, the time Parker and Ward had been shot.Outside the WDBJ studio gates, bouquets and shiny remembrance balloons were placed under a tree wrapped with two black mourning ribbons. Viewers and local residents came to pay their respects.Britain's Daily Mail reports that Parker's boyfriend, Chris Hurst, appeared on the early-morning show to talk about their relationship.Hurst, an evening anchor at the station, reportedly said: ''As soon as we confirmed that she had died, I said that it was going to be important for us to share her story and share the love that she had for this job. So I decided I was okay enough to do the only thing that I know how to do, which is communicate.''This station is resilient, her family is resilient, they're strong, and we'll be back folks,'' Hurst said.His girlfriend was talking to the head of the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce, Vicki Gardner, at a lakeside resort when the attack occurred. Several shots were heard, as well as screams, as Ward's camera fell to the floor.He captured a chilling image of the gunman as he fell to the ground - all of it watched live by a stunned newsroom and viewers at home.No blood is seen in the video image. The station hastily cut away to a startled anchor back in the studio.Later, a video posted under the Twitter account @bryce-williams7 showed the shooter brandishing a weapon at Parker.Neither she nor Ward apparently sees the shooter. Multiple shots are then heard, and screams. Parker runs away. The shooter's hand is clearly visible. He appears to be wearing a blue checked shirt.The video from the gunman's perspective was later removed from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.Gardner, 62, was wounded in the back in the attack. She was reported to be in a good condition yesterday after undergoing emergency surgery.In New York, ABC News said it had received a 23-page manifesto from a man identifying himself as Bryce Williams nearly two hours after the shooting. In the manifesto, Flanagan - an African American fired in 2013 by WDBJ - said the June mass shooting of black worshippers at a church in South Carolina had pushed him over the edge.He complained - in what he called a "Suicide Note for Friends and Family" - of having suffered racial discrimination and bullying "for being a gay, black man".WDBJ general manager Jeffrey Marks said Flanagan had been dismissed "after many incidents of his anger coming to the fore"...

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