Remembering WDBJ Anchor Alison Parker 10 Years After Her Untimely Death

The year was 2015, and WDBJ journalist Alison Parker was at the height of her career. Talented, brilliant, beautiful, and working her way up through the ranks as a successful anchor, she had her whole life ahead of her.

But while she and her cameraman colleague, Adam Ward, were out on assignment, the unthinkable happened. Ten years later, her colleagues looked back on her life and legacy, remembering the lives she touched along the way. Here's what we know about what happened to Alison, and how her loved ones are keeping her memory alive a decade later.

For television personalities, it's normal to see most of their life play out in the public eye. Whether you're talking about the hours a day they might spend in front of a camera, or the endless social media posts that highlight their career moves and moments, they're often highly public figures who are used to being in the spotlight.

However, it's not very common that these public figures have their deaths play out in the public eye as well. But that's just what happened to Alison and Adam on the fateful night of Aug. 26, 2015.

Alison and Adam were on assignment in their Virginia town, interviewing Vicki Gardner, the then-executive director of the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce. Little did they know that a 41-year-old man named Vester Lee Flanagan II was making a film of his own as he approached the journalist, cameraman, and Vicki, according to DailyMail.

Flanagan, a disgruntled former colleague, opened fire and killed both Alison and Adam almost instantly, with the entire incident caught on air.

Flanagan fled the scene and attempted to take his own life. He was not successful on the scene but died later of his injuries. Vicki was rushed to the hospital and survived.

Alison was just 24 and Adam just 27 when they were killed.

The shocking brutality of it all was caught on camera as Flanagan took out his rage, at being let go for behaviors that made his former colleagues uncomfortable, on Alison and Adam.

Although 10 years have passed, those who worked with Alison and Adam, and those who loved them, have not forgotten their far-reaching legacies.

Alison's father, Andy Parker, has been a tireless advocate for her legacy, talking about the way her memory still touches lives to this day.

Andy told ABC 13, "She has inspired even 10 years after her death. She's inspired so many young journalists, young reporters. Young people, that, because of the foundation that we started to expose kids to the arts, that never probably would have had an opportunity to see things like the Shakespeare Festival. A lot of good things that have come as a byproduct of something terrible."

The grieving father added, "Well, just how kind and generous and thoughtful, and how talented she was and how she does still inspire again to this day, she inspires people, and that makes me feel really good."

Every August 26 at 6:36am ET, WDBJ pauses for a moment of silence to remember their lost colleagues and reflect on the years that go by as Alison and Adam's memories turn to legacy which then inspire a new generation of journalists and cameramen to tell the stories of human existence.