Melissa Ott’s wedding dress arrived the same day she watched a shocking on-air shooting from a control room feed that left her fiancé — cameraman Adam Ward — dead.
Months earlier, Adam Ward and Melissa Ott had made their own news, announcing their engagement to a crew of happy colleagues in their Virginia newsroom.
So smitten was Ward with Ott that he was following her to Charlotte, N.C., where Ott had taken a new job. It was Ott’s last day.
It turned out to be Ward’s last day, too.
Ward was videotaping reporter Alison Parker’s live interview with a Chamber of Commerce official when a gunman calmly walked up and opened fire on the trio.
Ott’s day had begun on a very high note. She arrived at work before the sun came up, and was greeted by staff with a bouquet of roses and carnations tied in a shiny pink ribbon.
There were colorful balloons that said “Congrats.”
A co-worker snapped a picture of her smiling behind the bouquet. They were sad to see her go.
“We were celebrating that,” said morning anchor Kimberly McBroom. “Alison had brought in balloons; I had brought in a cake. It was a day of celebration.”
McBroom even tagged Ott in a celebratory Facebook post.
“Big shout out and congrats to our awesome WDBJ7 producer, Melissa Ott,” McBroom wrote.
