WASHINGTON — (CNN) The father of the Virginia reporter killed by a former co-worker this week criticized U.S. senators in the state for not reaching out to his family.
“The first official to call me was [Gov.] Terry McAuliffe. I have not heard a word from Sen. [Tim] Kaine. And I have not heard a word from Sen. [Mark] Warner,” Andy Parker, father of victim Alison Parker, told reporters Friday.
“I see the tweets and all of that stuff that says, ‘Oh gee, we’re sorry for the family,’ and I understand that. And I appreciate that, but I knew those two guys,” said Parker, who unsuccessfully ran for the Virginia House of Delegates in 2007 as a Democrat.
“They campaigned for me when I ran for the House of Delegates. And it’s very disappointing that Sens. Kaine and Warner haven’t at least given me a call and come out against this,” he said.
Kaine was Virginia’s governor in 2007 during the Virginia Tech shooting, when a gunman killed 32 students and educators on campus. He criticized the National Rifle Association earlier this year on the eighth anniversary of the shooting for working to block state and federal efforts to adopt more strict gun-purchasing background checks, according to the Virginian-Pilot.
For his part, Warner voted in 2013 to expand background checks for gun purchases.
“I think part of it is as politicians, we live in a very conservative state, but again, it’s time to do something, folks. Stand up. Take a stand. And do something,” Parker said.
On Wednesday morning, Alison Parker and Adam Ward, both employees of TV station WDBJ in Roanoke, Virginia, were shot to death while doing a live report from a shopping district near Moneta, Virginia. The person they were interviewing, Vicki Gardner, executive director of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce, was shot in the back and underwent surgery.
The shooter, Vester Flanagan, fled the scene and later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound when he was confronted by police.
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