WATCH ABOVE: Boyfriend and co-worker of Virginia TV reporter tears up while showing anniversary gift from victim.
TORONTO — The deaths of reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward, who were shot during a live broadcast in Virginia Wednesday morning, have sent shock waves across the continent.
Jeff Marks, the general manager of the the news station WDBJ7 where the two journalists worked, announced on-air that the they died around 6:45 a.m. after a gunman opened fire on them while they were covering a feature story.
READ MORE: The latest on the shooting in Virginia
“I cannot tell you how much they were loved, Alison and Adam, by the team,” Marks said.
“Our hearts are broken.”
Twenty-four-year-old Parker had been dating an anchor at the station, Chris Hurst, according to tweets he posted.
“She was the most radiant woman I ever met,” Hurst wrote.
When describing Parker to his general manager, Hurst said, “She is everything. She would brighten up every room, no matter what was going on, She was a positive person.”
WATCH ABOVE: Chris Hurst, the boyfriend and co-worker of WDBJ7 TV reporter Alison Parker, 24, spoke to the press about his girlfriend and their relationship. Parker was fatally shot while on-air on Wednesday morning.
Their other co-workers agreed. One co-worker shared a story of how supportive Parker had been when she lost her father earlier this year.
Hurst said he was also heartbroken for Ward’s fiancée who, according to reports, was working as a producer in the control room when the shots rang out. It was reportedly her last morning working on the show because she planned to move to a new job in North Carolina. Ward was apparently going to follow her there.
On Wednesday afternoon, WDBJ7’s chief meteorologist Brent Watts tweeted about his co-worker.
READ MORE: What we know about Alison Parker and Adam Ward, the two journalists killed in Virginia
Needless to say, the news team is reeling from the shock.
“When it’s two of your own and so young…The potential that’s been robbed,” one anchor later said on-air.
“It’s just really hard to even comprehend. We cover these things all the time, but it’s really tough…They were just out doing their job today.”
WDBJ7 later posted photos of Parker and Ward have fun together behind the scenes.
Many on social media shared their condolences.
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/636548596377198594/photo/1
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