None — When I got into the news business, I did so because you never know what the day will bring. That's what I love about television news. Today, that changed for me.
My co-anchor, Natalie Pasquarella, and I anchored the 5 p.m. newscast. It was a couple of stories into the show when I started to hear some commotion in the newsroom. I was wondering, why are people talking so loudly? Our producer, Katie Rutland, said in my ear, "We need to get off air." I'll be honest, I needed to hear it one more time to be sure. At first, I thought we were having technical problems. Then, Katie said with urgency, "We need to get off air, now!" We threw to a commercial and I was quickly escorted to the newsroom. There was clear concern on the faces of my co-workers. That's when my own fear set in. I saw Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officers with their guns out, poised to shoot at any second. They told us to leave quickly. Our Executive Producer said, "There's a gunman in the building." It still didn't register. As I walked out, I saw an officer with a rifle pointed at the front doors of our building. It was clear – there was a real danger.
As most of us stood outside in the parking lots, we all comforted each other by saying this just wasn't a big deal and there couldn't be a real threat – not to those who COVER the news. But then, officers pushed us back and said, "There's a distraught, suicidal woman in our lobby, she has a gun and we don't know if any employees are there." At that moment, it was real – too real. Quickly, I started getting phone calls, e-mails, tweets, Facebook messages, texts from friends and realized, we weren't the only ones who knew about this. I went from being a potential witness to danger, to thinking, "We need to communicate with the world, people need to know what's going on, we walked off set and didn't explain to anyone why we went to black, we didn't have time." Police made us leave immediately, some people in other parts of the building didn't even know we needed to evacuate yet. Collectively, a group of us started asking police about the latest, as if in breaking news mode. The calls and texts of concern from loved ones continued.
About 45 minutes into the situation, we were told it was coming to a close. What did that mean? My thoughts: "Is the woman OK? Were shots fired? Is someone dead? Are any employees in there?" Just as my mind wandered frantically, the relief came from an officer who told me the woman was in custody and everyone was safe. Soon after, they let us back in the studio and I walked straight to the set. We went back on air, and as we reported live on the situation, I was internalizing how serious this really was. Seeing the video, live on air, of the woman in our lobby, the SWAT team outside, and, yes, all the media at our offices – it was surreal.
We went off air at 6:30 p.m., as we do every night. I turned around to see our staff in the studio, standing to debrief (as we also do every night). They were internalizing, too. Just like many people who tell us about their stories every day, many of us were thinking the same thing – how fortunate we are.
Of course, everyone at WSOC-TV will never forget this day. We will never forget standing in the cold, waiting to understand. We will never forget hearing that everyone's alive. Most importantly, we will never forget the words of love from friends, family, strangers, viewers and our community. You're right, you never know what the day will bring ... you just hope you get to see another.