Watch CBS News

Emerson Graduate Remembers Girlfriend Killed In Virginia Shooting

BOSTON (CBS) -- An Emerson College graduate is paying tribute to his girlfriend, fatally shot along with her cameraman during a live TV news broadcast Wednesday morning in Virginia.

Reporter Alison Parker, 24, and photographer Adam Ward, 27, of WDBJ7 in Roanoke, were shot dead, reportedly by a "disgruntled" former employee of the station.

Parker's boyfriend, WDBJ7 anchor Chris Hurst, is a 2009 graduate of Emerson, according to his LinkedIn profile. In a series of tweets on Wednesday, Hurst said he and Parker "were very much in love."

"We just moved in together," Hurst said. "I am numb."

Hurst said they had been together about nine months and planned to get married.

At Emerson, Hurst covered news and sports for the school's radio and television stations.

Before returning home to Roanoke, Alison worked in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Madeleine Wright, now a reporter in Providence, Rhode Island, was a competitor.

WBZ-TV's Katie Brace reports

"We were all reporters and we were just hanging out," Wright says. "She was very competitive and ambitious and she had a lot of dreams."

She like many is in shock.

"I feel really bad she won't be able to live the rest of her life she had a bright future and she had so much life ahead of her to live," Wright says.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.