Andy Parker, father of WDBJ Roanoke reporter, Alison Parker, who was slain on camera in August by a disgruntled former station employee, has made good on his pledge to leverage that tragedy to lobby for gun control.
Parker will be the keynote speaker at a national summit on gun violence in Washington Oct. 27, sponsored by the Brady Campaign and the American Public Health Association.
Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward were shot and killed on-air Aug. 26 while doing an early morning stand-up.
Parker was an intern at the station before being named the morning reporter, teamed with Ward. She also formerly worked at WCTI Jacksonville, N.C., and was a graduate of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., in 2012, where she studied journalism and got hands-on experience in news producing at ABC affiliate WHSV. She was also news editor for JMU's newspaper, The Breeze.
Adam Ward had been with the station for four years, like Parker starting as an intern in the production department before moving on to news. He was a graduate of Virginia Tech, previously the focus of national attention for its own shooting tragedy.
