ROANOKE, Va. (AP) – Salem High School will open its doors to the community Monday to commemorate the life of an alumni – Adam Ward, the 27-year-old cameraman for a Roanoke television station who was slain on live TV last week.
The family of Ward, a 2007 graduate of the school, has asked visitors to wear colors of his favorite teams, Virginia Tech and Salem High, where he played football for the Spartans on two state championship teams. His funeral is set for Tuesday at First Baptist Church in Roanoke.
“He was truly a Salem Spartan, born and bred. From childhood, he loved Salem sports, especially football,” his obituary says. Ward’s father, Charles, is a guidance counselor at the school, which Adam chose to attend even though he lived in another district.
The Ward family has stayed out of the spotlight since Wednesday when he and reporter Alison Parker were gunned down by a former co-worker. Ward and Parker were on an early morning assignment for WDBJ-TV at Smith Mountain Lake when Vester Lee Flanagan walked up and shot them and Vicki Gardner, a Chamber of Commerce official, with a 9mm Glock pistol during a live interview. Ward and Parker died at the scene and Gardner is recovering in a hospital.
The shootings occurred as thousands of viewers across the central Virginia community watched and the footage quickly spread to millions on social media. Flanagan shot himself as police pursued his car. He died hours later.