You see that lovely young woman? Her name was Alison Parker and this morning she and her cameraman Adam Ward were shot and killed near Roanoke, Virginia in a place called Moneta. She was 24 and was a graduate of James Madison University and he was 27 and a graduate of Virginia Tech. They were with Virgina CBS affiliate WDBJ7. They were killed in the middle of a live shot interview it looks like.
This story is so horrific and I like many others didn’t know either Ms. Parker or Mr. Ward. For me personally it hits home because I have friends who are reporters and cameramen as well as newspaper reporters and newspaper photographers . I thought of them all immediately as this news broke. You think of them covering the news, not becoming the news and victims of violence.
And even more horrible? It has been disclosed that the shooter was a former reporter, one of their own, who for a while put what he did on video on Twitter! They are reporting he is being chased through Virginia and other media reports say he may have committed suicide.
Web Staff, WDBJ7, news@wdbj7.com
POSTED: 07:27 AM EDT Aug 26, 2015 UPDATED: 10:56 AM EDT Aug 26, 2015
Virginia TV reporter, photographer killed in shooting during live interviewBy Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN
Updated 11:05 AM ET, Wed August 26, 2015
Sources: WDBJ shooting suspect is former reporter Bryce Williams
Posted: Aug 26, 2015 8:20 AM EDT
Updated: Aug 26, 2015 11:34 AM EDT
By NBC12 NewsroomCONNECT
This county is on full tilt crazy again. You can click on the links above to read about this horrific event. But before everyone goes into another endless gun control debate, remember what just happened here yesterday at the Chester County Courthouse, which made national news.
Yesterday a guy named Curtis Smith of Coatesville went crazy with a knife inside our county courthouse, hurting people. He was shot and killed by Sheriff’s department personnel. As e dust began to settle we learned this guy had been arrested in Washington DC for scaling a wall of the White House.
Washington Post National Official: Deputy’s attacker arrested at White House in March
A Chester County sheriff’s deputy with a hand injury is taken from the lobby of the Chester County Courthouse following a shooting Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015, in West Chester, Pa. The Daily Local News of West Chester reports that the shooting involved a member of the Chester County sheriff’s office and a man who apparently tried to enter the courthouse. (Pete Bannan/Daily Local News via AP) (Associated Press)By Associated Press August 25 at 5:58 PM
Daily Local News Chester County Justice Center suspect dead
By Michael P. Rellahan, mrellahan@21st-centurymedia.com,, @ChescoCourtNews on Twitter
POSTED: 08/25/15, 12:31 PM EDT | UPDATED: 2 HRS AGO
Questions linger in courthouse shooting
Justine McDaniel and Michaelle Bond, Inquirer Staff Writers
Last updated: Wednesday, August 26, 2015, 1:06 AM
But seriously, this country is such a country of unpleasant extremes these days. When did we become a nation of violence?
Sad day again for this country. We need to dial back the violence.
I live in the boro and enjoy it, but I know that there is violence here. I walk by the new courthouse on Monday, Wednesday and Friday to Mitch’s Gym around noon. I am glad that yesterday wasn’t one of those days. Last Thursday night, a Henderson student, was murdered, then dumped on Hillsdale Rd and Bradford Avenue, for selling drugs.
It is not just adults or young adults. CBS 3 had this piece last night:
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2015/08/26/local-child-stars-mother-says-officials-not-doing-enough-after-daughter-allegedly-received-death-threat/
I am sickened by the general indifference people have to other people’s suffering. Even to making fun of it.
Violence has been with us throughout history, but now we have instant, social media access and sadly people glory in it.
I fear that it will get worse before it gets better.