Andy Parker, father of reporter Alison Parker, says he will ‘shame legislators’ if necessary, as WDBJ7’s morning anchors observe an on-air moment of silence
As journalists at the Virginia TV station WDBJ7 grieved openly for two colleagues who were shot and killed by a disgruntled former employee, the father of one of the victims, reporter Alison Parker, called for reform to America’s laws on gun control.
Related: Virginia shooting: victim's father vows fight for greater gun control - live
Parker, 24, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27, were killed in a terrifying attack that was broadcast to thousands of viewers on Wednesday. Chilling social-media posts by the killer also showed the shooting.
Vicki Gardner, the head of the Smith Mountain Lake chamber of commerce who was being interviewed and filmed by Parker and Ward, was wounded in the attack.
On Wednesday night, Parker’s father, Andy Parker, told Fox News he would do “whatever it takes to get gun legislation … to shame people, to shame legislators into doing something about closing loopholes in background checks and making sure crazy people don’t get guns”.
“Mark my words,” Parker said. “I’m going to do something ... This is not the last you’ve heard from me, this is something that is Alison’s legacy that I want to make happen.”
Parker also spoke about the loss of his daughter in a statement. “Barbara, Drew, and I are numb, devastated and I find my grief unbearable,” he wrote of his family. “Alison was our bright, shining light and it was cruelly extinguished by yet another crazy person with a gun.”
Read more:
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/27/virginia-tv-shooting-father-alison-parker-gun-control
