Virginia shooting victim's father says he will need to buy gun to defend himself

Facebook

The father of Alison Parker, the journalist shot dead on live television on Wednesday, has said that now he is campaigning for gun control he will probably have to get a firearm to defend himself.

Andy Parker, spoke to reporters on Friday after he visited the television station, WDBJ7, where his daughter worked before being murdered - along with cameraman Adam Ward - by their former colleague Vester Lee Flanagan.

He continued to push for stricter gun control in the United States, where decades of mass shootings have failed to produce meaningful reform.

“I want to go to the Virginia legislature and I want them to look me in the eye and tell me why we can’t have a reasonable proposal, any reasonable background checks, the things common sense dictates,” Parker said. “I want them to look me in the eye and tell me why they won’t support that.”

READ MORE

DREAMS SHATTERED: Both killed Virginia Journalists were engaged to marry.

They had special lives.

We didn't share this publicly, but @AParkerWDBJ7 and I were very much in love. We just moved in together. I am numb. pic.twitter.com/tUrHVwAXcN

— Chris Hurst (@chrishurstwdbj) August 26, 2015

"I AM NUMB"

Alison Parker was engaged to WDBJ anchor Chris Hurst.

"She was the most radiant woman I ever met," Hurst wrote on Twitter after the death of his fiance, whom he had dated for nine months and was living with. "I am numb."

Hurst said Parker and Ward worked together ever day and "were a team." Ironically mental health and public safety issues were Chris Hurst's beats. The same issue that was the core of Flanagan aka Bryce Williams madness!

                                                                                                                      Facebook

Adam Ward was engaged to morning WDBJ producer, Melissa Ott, who was leaving the station for a job in Charlotte, N.C., Marks said. Ward was moving with her.

There was cake and balloons in the newsroom on Wednesday morning celebrating the move and the couple's engagement, said anchor Kimberly McBroom.

Ward recently told coworkers he intended to leave the news business when he left for Charlotte.

Ward's personal Facebook page is decorated with images of him and Ott, including his marriage proposal to her.

Parker's page is filled with images of pets, outdoor activities and other outings where she poses with her new fiance.

"There were a lot of good things happening for Adam," McBroom said, choking back tears. "And Alison, wow, she was just a rock star."

With files from Toronto Sun

The Latest on Bryce Williams, the disgruntled reporter who killed his former co-workers on LIVE TV (GRAPHIC)

Cameraman Adam ward's lifeless body

WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR. SUSPECT COMMITTED SUICIDE AND ALREADY DEAD. IMAGES ABOVE WAS POSTED ON HIS TWITTER HANDLE WHICH HAS BEEN DEACTIVATED!

Shooter and Killer Vester Lee Flanagan II broadcast name Bryce Williams

The late Alison Parker

Adam Ward

• Revenge race murder: Bitter black reporter who gunned down white ex-colleagues live on air and posted the video online blames Charleston shootings and anti-gay harassment in manifesto
• Vester Lee Flanagan II, 41, killed reporter Alison Parker, 24, and 27-year-old cameraman Adam Ward on live TV
• Pair were filming for WDBJ at 6.45am in Moneta, Virginia, alongside local Vicki Gardner when shooting happened
• Gardner was taken to hospital for surgery after being hit in the back while Parker and Ward died at the scene
• Flanagan then used Twitter to post a video of the attacks alongside a rambling explanation while police hunted him
• Also sent 23-page suicide note to news station saying he was motivated by the Charleston church killings
• Said he bought handgun two days after killings, and added that his bullets 'have the victim's names written on them'
• Flanagan had worked for WDBJ but was fired and escorted from the station's building after spats with coworkers
• Flanagan's car was eventually found by deputies after he shot himself, and later died from his injuries at 1.30pm
• WARNING: Videos of the shooting may be disturbing for some readers

With files from Daily Mail Online