In this Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015 photo, Joe Brightwell talks with a Franklin County Sheriff's officer near the Bridgewater Plaza, where two WDBJ-TV journalists who were killed during an on-air broadcast Wednesday in Moneta, Va. (Heather Rousseau/The Roanoke Times via AP) LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; SALEM TIMES REGISTER OUT; FINCASTLE HERALD OUT; CHRISTIANBURG NEWS MESSENGER OUT; RADFORD NEWS JOURNAL OUT; ROANOKE STAR SENTINEL OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT
Republished August 29, 2015 - 12:38 AM
Original Publication Date August 28, 2015 - 2:35 AM
ROANOKE, Va. - The chamber of commerce official who was answering questions about her community on live TV when gunfire erupted said she never saw the gunman walk up to the group.
Vicki Gardner, who is executive director of the resort area's chamber of commerce, says the camera's bright light blinded her. She was wounded as she fell to the ground after hearing the first shots, her husband said Friday.
The gunman, Vester Flanagan, ambushed WDBJ-TV cameraman Adam Ward and reporter Alison Parker during the interview Wednesday at the Smith Mountain Lake Visitor Center.
The first four shots were aimed at Parker, and two more were aimed at Ward, Gardner's husband Tim said in a telephone interview from the hospital where she is recovering. Then he fired at Gardner, though his first couple of shots missed her.
News from © The Associated Press, 2015