Two American TV journalists were shot dead during live reporting in rural Virginia on Wednesday, a local news network reported.
24-year-old Alison Parker and 27-year-old Adam Ward, employees of local TV station WDBJ7, were holding a live broadcast around 6:45 am local time when an unarmed men opened fire at them.
“We do not know the motive. We do not know who the suspect or the killer is,” said WDBJ general manager Jeffrey Marks as he confirmed the deaths to viewers.
WDBJ is located in the southern Virginia city of Roanoke.
The gunman was still at large.
The woman that Parker was interviewing on a balcony at the lakeside Bridgewater Resort in the town of Moneta, near Roanoke, was reportedly wounded.
Parker was talking to the woman about tourism development for WDBJ’s early-morning newscast when the gunman seemingly closed in from behind.
Several shots were heard, as well as screams, as Ward’s camera fell to the floor, capturing a fuzzy image of the gunman, dressed in dark clothing.
The station then cut away to a startled anchorwoman back in the studio.
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe said on Twitter that he was “heartbroken over (the) senseless murders.”
Virginia state police were working with local authorities to capture the gunman, he said.