Chris Hurst has spoken out a few times since his girlfriend, Alison Parker, was murdered in a horrible shooting live on the air, but he hasn’t been back to work. This week, Hurst finally returned to WDBJ7, making an impactful and emotional return to the anchor chair on the local news. You can check out what the young anchor has to say, below.
In the video from Monday’s evening newscast, Hurst says he has spent his time off grieving and healing with Alison’s family. He also says he also traveled around to Newtown and Aurora; the former is the location of the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings and the latter is where a prominent movie theater shooting occurred. He says that he and everyone must come at the shooting from a “place of love” rather than one of hate or anger. If you don’t have the chance to watch the video, here’s a part of what Hurst had to say:
I know the answer to what we all must do. It is to profess love, not hate. To love one another and to love strangers. Alison and Adam projected a love and peace into our world that can never been taken, even if they were taken from us. She and I fell in love here in the newsroom, as we fondly watched each other care deeply about our communities and try to make them better and safer. That’s what drove her as she came into your home every morning.
It’s only been a few weeks since reporter Alison Parker and photographer Adam Ward were shot and killed during a live news broadcast being filmed in Moneta, Virginia with local chamber of commerce director Vicki Gardner, who was also attacked. Later in the day, a five-hour manhunt ensued with the police pursuing Vester Lee Flanagan II, a former reporter at WDBJ. At the time, Alison and Adam had been together for nine months, although their relationship had not been public knowledge, and he later tweeted they had just moved in together. Hurst took to social media again last night to note he is happy to be returning to the job.
Obviously, finding out your girlfriend has been shot and murdered would be tough for anyone, but Parker’s death was so much more prominent thanks to the live news aspect. The fact that Hurst is also a local public figure has put him even more in the limelight during the tragic shootings. Here’s to hoping now that things have settled down and Hurst is back on the job that he will be able to resume a more normal routine.
