ROANOKE, Va. (WUSA9) - Virginia medical officials say a TV news reporter and cameraman who were killed during a live broadcast both suffered gunshot wounds to the head.
The medical examiner's office in Roanoke office said Friday that WDBJ-TV reporter Alison Parker's official cause of death was gunshot wounds to the head and chest. Cameraman Adam Ward's cause of death was gunshot wounds to the head and torso.
The shopping center where the two journalists were killed has opened again, with just a few people arriving Friday morning.
Real estate agent Kay DeGiorgi stopped in front of a memorial to victims Alison Parker and Adam Ward. DeGiorgi put down her purse and stood there for several minutes, silently crying and dabbing her eyes.
DeGiorgi's office is right next to the site of the shooting. She says she's lived in the area for 10 years and calls it "the safest place I've ever lived." She grew up in northern Virginia.
She called the third victim, local Chamber of Commerce official Vicki Gardner, the face of Smith Mountain Lake. The shopping center is right on the lake, and DiGiorgi noted that Gardner, who was shot in the back and is in good condition at a hospital, works right nearby. DiGiorgi says: "Keeping Vicki in our thoughts and prayers is going to help heal the community."
CJ's Coffee and Sandwich Shop owner Chris Genna walked past the memorial to the victims, with flowers and large portraits. He carried several brown bags of supplies as he unlocked the door to his shop at Bridgewater Plaza in Moneta. His business opened at 8 a.m.
Genna called it an emotional day, his voice faltering.
He said: "My thoughts go out to the families."
On Thursday, the owner of the plaza said the shopping center would be open overall, but it would be up to each individual business owner whether to open shop doors.
Friday morning during a television interview, the husband of Vicki Gardner said the gunman fired at his wife after shooting WDBJ-TV reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward. Tim Gardner says Vester Flanagan missed his wife twice, and she then dove to the ground, curled up in a ball, and was shot in the back.
He says that after the attack, Vicki Gardner got up and walked to the ambulance after being shot, and she didn't know the extent of her injuries at that point.
He adds: "But the surgeon told me that a couple of centimeters and she wouldn't be walking, and a couple of centimeters more and she wouldn't be alive."
Flanagan died hours later of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Parker and Ward's colleagues on the morning team at WDBJ have continued to broadcast the show and to pay tribute to the slain journalists. Morning anchor Kim McBroom started Friday's broadcast by telling viewers, "another tough morning for us, but we're soldiering on."
Tributes continue to dominate the 5 a.m. newscast, although this time news unrelated to the tragedy dotted the program. McBroom said Ward was a contributor to the station's Friday night high school football coverage. The high school season starts Friday night.
Contributing: The Associated Press
