The Parker family was changed forever when Andy's wife was alerted by Alison Parker's employer, WDBJ (Channel 7) in Roanoke, by informing them that their daughter was connected to a shooting. The 24-year-old reporter and 27-year-old cameraman Adam Ward were shot during a live interview in southwest Virginia, as previously reported by HNGN.
Before they were informed on whether she was still alive or not, 62-year-old Andy Parker expected the worst when his daughter did not contact them yet.
"Initially, we had some hope, but I knew in my heart of hearts," said Parker, who is a banking industry recruiter. "Alison would have called me immediately to say she was okay."
"My grief is unbearable," he added, according to The Washington Post. "Is this real? Am I going to wake up? I am crying my eyes out. I don't know if there's anybody in this world or another father who could be more proud of their daughter."
The gunman was identified as Vester Lee Flanagan II, a disgruntled former WDBJ employee who eventually killed himself after the shooting took place.
"He was a crazy man that got a gun," Parker said, pertaining to the gunman on "The Kelly File." "I'm going to do something, whatever it takes, to get gun legislation - to shame people, to shame legislators into doing something about closing loopholes and background checks and making sure crazy people don't get guns."
Parker has not seen the video that shows the shooting. "It's like showing those beheadings," he said. "I am not going to watch it. I can't watch it. I can't watch any news. All it would do is rip out my heart further than it already it is."
Chris Hurst, the reporter's boyfriend, also appeared on said show, defending the victims against the motive of the shooter. "Alison and Adam carried no hate in their heart and expressed no hate or ill will," Hurst said, according to NBC News.
Hurst expressed his grief on Twitter.
She was the most radiant woman I ever met. And for some reason she loved me back. She loved her family, her parents and her brother.
— Chris Hurst (@chrishurstwdbj) August 26, 2015
"She would always text me, we would always be concerned, texting each other when we got to work safely. And she texted me, 'Good night, sweet boy' and that was the last that I had ever heard from her," Hurst said on Fox.
