Reporter Gets Restraining Order After Guy's Shooting Motion

Incident happened days after on-air shootings
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 24, 2015 11:09 AM CDT
Reporter Gets Restraining Order After Guy's Shooting Motion
   (Shutterstock)

A Virginia reporter was granted a restraining order yesterday after a disturbing incident days after another local reporter and cameraman were shot dead on-air. Those victims worked for WDBJ; Duke Carter works for WSLS. Carter was working on a story about a fundraiser for WDBJ shooting survivor Vicki Gardner on Sept. 5 when Donald "Donnie" Visel Jr. called over to Carter from a truck: "Hey, Frankie Jupiter." Jupiter is a former reporter for WDBJ, and Carter didn't think Visel was talking to him, the Roanoke Times reports. When the man continued to call out while circling the parking lot, though, Carter eventually said, "I'm not Frankie Jupiter." Visel's alleged response: "Oh, you're right. You're dead." He made a shooting motion, using his hands, toward Carter.

"I was frozen in fear," Carter testified in court. "This was the exact same road where Alison [Parker] and Adam [Ward] were shot." Extra patrol officers were sent to WSLS that day as a result of the incident, but no criminal charges were filed, so Carter sought the protective order against Visel, 28. "How could you be so callous?" the judge asked Visel after hearing Carter's testimony. Visel, who has a criminal record that includes drug, alcohol, and trespassing convictions and a pending assault charge, said during the hearing, "I just want to apologize to the man." During the two years the protective order will stand, Visel can't own a gun or have any contact with Carter. (More restraining order stories.)

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