Buffalo News Reporters React To Journalist Killed In Shooting

A Spectrum News 13 reporter was shot and killed while covering a shooting in Orlando on Wednesday afternoon.

The shooting may have happened in Florida, but it is affecting people across the country, including some news reporters in the Buffalo area, as they mourn the loss of Dylan Lyons.

According to local law enforcement, the 24-year-old reporter, Dylan Lyons, was shot along with his photographer, Jesse Walden, who is in the hospital Thursday morning.

Walden’s family have shared that Jesse is up and talking.

On Thursday morning, news reporters and media personalities across the world shared their condolences for the Lyons family.

Abby Fridmann, Wake Up anchor on News 4, shared the news with Buffalo via Twitter.

“Newsrooms become family. I can't even imagine the heartbreak,” Fridmann wrote.

Gabrielle Mediak, a Western New York native and former News 4 reporter, called the tragedy “just devastating.”

“I can't tell you how many hours journalists and photographers spend in news cars...It's where you wait for live shots, write and edit or your stories.. and it's supposed be a safer spot away from the scene.

Thinking of Dylan, his family and the entire Spectrum News family.”

Mediak currently works in Lancaster, PA, which is only an hour and a half away from Philadelphia, which is where Lyons was born and raised.

Former anchor for News 4, Melanie Orlins, shared her condolences.

“I'm sending my love and strength to the news team in Orlando, now dealing with the loss of their colleague and reporter Dylan, because of gun violence.”

The shooter is accused of killing a woman earlier in the day, and a 9-year-old girl, in a separate but related shooting.

It hits close to home, even for people who never had the opportunity to meet Dylan Lyons. He was only 24 years old, doing what he loved. He was shot while on the job, trying to inform others.

It could have been your kid, your brother, your neighbor…and you can’t help but think about how the Lyons family feels at this time.

Lyons was a UCF graduate who would have been 25 years old in March. He loved his fiancé and was a devoted son to his mother and father. Dylan had a niece and a nephew that he loved very much.

Dylan’s older sister, Rachel Lyons, set up a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses. You can find that here.

New York State Police Canine Unit

Here is a partial list of the New York State Police K9 Unit. This division was created in 1975. The original three canines were put into service as explosives detection canines in preparation for the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York.

New York State Police canines are named in honor of the men and women of the state police who have died in the line of duty.