The woman who was being interviewed when a gunman opened fire on a news crew on live television remembers ducking bullets before she was shot in the back, a spokesman for her family told NBC News on Friday.
Vicki Gardner, a local tourism official who was being interviewed on the WDBJ morning show in Virginia when the gunman struck, also remembers that at one point his gun jammed or ran out of bullets, said the spokesman, Troy Keaton.
“It happened fast, and it was frightening,” he said. “She saw Alison shot, Adam also. She was ducking and dodging and ended up on the ground, kind of hunched over, and he shot her in the back.”
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Alison Parker, the reporter who was interviewing Gardner for the station’s morning show, and Adam Ward, the cameraman, were killed. The gunman, Vester Flanagan, a disgruntled former reporter for WDBJ, later killed himself.
Parker's and Ward's deaths were ruled homicides on Friday. Parker was shot in the head and chest, and Ward was shot in the head and torso, the medical examiner said.
Gardner was listed in good condition after surgery. Keaton, who said he was relaying information from Gardner’s husband, reported that she is alert and in good spirits and that her memory is vivid.
“She has shared with Tim and her family the horror and the tragedy and shock,” he said. “She knew when it happened that Adam and Alison were — it was very bad for them. And she is just very thankful that she was able to survive.”
