Less than 24 hours removed from the murder of two of their colleagues on live television, the WDBJ-TV morning news crew returned to the airwaves.
At 6:45 AM local time on Thursday, anchor Kim McBroom joined hands with weatherman Leo Hirsbrunner and fellow anchor Steve Grant, who joined the team from sister station KYTV in Springfield, Mo., and asked their viewers to join them in observing a moment of silence in remembrance of Alison Parker, 24, and Adam Ward, 27, who were shot and killed during a live broadcast on Wednesday morning.
"We are approaching a moment that none of us will forget. It was yesterday, around this time, that we went live to Alison Parker and photojournalist Adam Ward. They were out in the field, it was a story like so many others that they did all the time, reporting on our hometown… when the peacefulness of our community was shattered," an emotional McBroom said.
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During the 30-second moment of silence, a photo of Ward and Parker filled the screen with the words "In Memory" written over it.
"Joining hands here on the desk. It’s the only way to do it," McBroom said to her fellow newscasters on the desk when the moment of silence was over.
News stations and journalists across the country also posted messages of remembrance and solidarity on Thursday morning, using #WeStandWithWDBJ.
As previously reported, the shooter was former WDBJ employee Vester Flanagan, who went by the on-air name Bryce Williams. Flanagan died from injuries sustained in a self-inflicted gunshot wound hours after the incident.
-- Eric Anderson
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