RECENT SHOW
Monday, May 26 2026 10 p.m.
KARE 11
ANNUNCIATION CHURCH SHOOTING
August 28, 2025 10 p.m.
The sanctity of Annunciation Catholic Church and School's sanctuary was shattered- when a shooter opened fire through the stained glass windows. Two children died, the total number of people injured would eventually rise to 21. Following the shooting, I sought to capture the common emotions- grief, sadness, anger and confusion. The next day, we learned the names and heard from the families of the two children killed in the shooting. Heading into this show, I wanted to keep the names of Fletcher Merkel and Harper Moyski at the forefront, before then sharing afternoon developments from police- and sharing what our team had found about the shooter.
LAWMAKERS SHOT AND THE SEARCH FOR THE SUSPECT
Early in the morning of Saturday June 14, 2025, two Democratic Minnesota state lawmakers were shot in their own homes by a man allegedly posing as a police officer. Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed, Senator John Hoffman and his wife were seriously injured. The shooting prompted what would become the state's largest manhunt ever- with officials from across the state searching nearly 48 hours for the suspect.
On Sunday, I spent about six hours in the control room for live streaming and wall-to-wall coverage of the search for the shooting suspect,. I was adding each new detail, photo and graphic as they came in - while also coordinating with anchors and field crews on where we would go next. We ended our wall-to-wall coverage around 6:30, most managers and extra crews left, and I started preparing for our 10 p.m. newscast. Around 9:30 we got word that the suspect had been caught. I immediately threw out the rundown- and worked with our sports producer to prepare to go wall -to-wall again. We took a short cut-in as soon as we could, and then began our newscast at 10, carrying it through a late press conference.
By Monday, the fear was settling and the community's grief began shining through. We started hearing and sharing stories of both lawmakers-both in office and at home. At 10, I sought to capture this emotion for our viewers, while also bringing the latest on the suspect and the criminal case. I also had to balance in some severe weather that had rolled in through the evening.
Suspect taken into custody
June 15, 2025 10 p.m.
Vigils, memorials and the latest details
June 16, 2025 10 p.m.
THE SHOOTING OF ALEX PRETTI
January 24, 2026 10 p.m.
The shooting of Alex Pretti marked the third by federal officers in the span of 3 weeks in Minneapolis during the height of Operation Metro Surge. The shooting- deepening an already tense environment in the Twin Cities, and intensifying protests across the area. While I was off and out of town the day of the shooting, I volunteered to log in from the TEGNA station where I was visiting in order to produce the 10 p.m. newscast.
Even from a distance, I coordinated with managers, the assignment desk, field crews and other producers to keep up with the newest updates from the scenes and from local and federal officials. I also sought to capture the feelings of the day- the anger, frustration and fatigue.
SAYING GOODBYE TO FALLEN HEROES
February 28, 2024 10 p.m.
On February 18th, 2024, a man shot and killed two police officers and a firefighter-paramedic during a standoff in Burnsville, Minnesota. Ten days later, the three were remembered in a joint memorial service including a procession of first responders from all over the country that spanned several miles. The community’s support was massive. Many businesses and the local school district closed for the day, and thousands of people attended the memorial and lined the procession route. As the producer, I was looking to capture the community’s grief and show how they came together to honor the fallen heroes.
This show won a Regional Emmy award for Best Evening Newscast in a Large Market.
REN FEST GROUNDS FIRE
April 17, 2025 10 p.m.
A few hours before the show, we sent our helicopter to check on a fire at a church in Saint Paul. Somehow, it ended up over a different fire, this one much larger and very active. After seeing the images and matching landmarks with Google Maps, I quickly figured out that it was a large fire at the grounds of the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. We quickly pivoted a reporter there and worked to confirm as much as we could before the show.
The fire at the festival grounds came on an active weather day, and the same day a gunman opened fire in the student union at Florida State University.
GOVERNOR WALZ PICKED FOR VP
August 6, 2024 10 p.m.
After weeks of speculation and a list that got progressively shorter, Kamala Harris picked Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. This show aired hours after Walz and Harris took the stage for the first time in Philadelphia. As Walz introduced himself to the country, back in Minnesota we also wanted to answer every question possible - Why Walz? How will his experience in Minnesota play into his campaign?
In this show, I looked to used different showcasing tools available at our station to show just how extensive our coverage would be. Behind the scenes, I was juggling four reporters with different angles, making sure nothing overlapped and that we delivered on everything we said we would.
KOMU 8
BUILDING OUT THE BIG STORY
March 19, 2021 10 p.m.
Three days after a gunman in the Atlanta, Georgia area targeted several Asian-owned businesses and killed eight people, including six women of Asian descent, members of the Columbia community held a vigil to remember their lives and talk about their own experiences. When I came in to produce this show, I knew I needed to take the story beyond just the vigil and the latest updates on the criminal case. I expanded the coverage to provide context to what the Asian community had been facing over the past year and added new information we had learned that day about the victims.
Producing this show helped me find the boundary between being a journalist and being a person with lived experiences, but it also helped me realize when my lived experiences can be an asset in the newsroom. As an Asian-American journalist, I recognized that I had a unique perspective in putting together this show. I knew I had experiences and a level of cultural competency that could help me tell our sources' stories. Throughout the day, I also worked with other people in my newsroom- from connecting reporters to sources and resources, to helping on-air talent pronounce the names of the victims.
TWO LEADS IN ONE DAY
January 11, 2021 6 p.m.
When I was preparing this show, I knew I had two lead stories- it was Inauguration Day for the governor, and there was a school board for the biggest district in our viewing area that could (and ultimately did) bring students back to the classroom after being out because of COVID-19 for almost the entire school year. I decided to lead with the schools, but I built a lead that also acknowledged the inauguration coverage ahead.
There were also some obstacles to overcome along the way. With 15 minutes left before the show, the reporter at the school board meeting said the doors had not opened yet, and I did not want her to set up a full live shot with her camera and risk losing her spot in line. I ended up asking her to go live from her phone- something we had tested for Election Day two months earlier but never used on air. She ended up walking into the meeting as the show open rolled and did a live hit in the meeting room from her phone. It looked a little awkward, but I was happy we could keep her in the show without jeopardizing her spot in the room.