Paul Wagner joined News4 as a general assignment reporter in 2021.
Wagner was raised with his seven siblings in Glen Rock, New Jersey. His proximity to Manhattan facilitated his introduction to radio broadcasting. His first job entailed reading the news and playing records at WYCR-FM.
After graduating from Mount Saint Mary’s College, Wagner reported on traffic conditions using binoculars and a two-way radio from the top of the Washington Monument. He moved to Houston for a few years to work at KIKK-FM and KPRC-TV before returning to Washington, D.C., to cover news for WXCR-FM and XTRA-104.
In 1988, Wagner joined WTOP Radio, where he spent 11 years breaking stories and contributing to award-winning coverage, including the 1991 Mount Pleasant riots, which won the station a national Edward R. Murrow Award.
Wagner moved to television news in 1999, covering major news such as the 9/11 attacks, the Beltway sniper shootings, and hundreds of cold cases and homicides for WTTG-TV before leaving in 2020. Wagner then re-established his relationship with WTOP Radio, where he produced and hosted two podcast series on two noteworthy cold cases in the D.C. area.
Wagner won four Emmy Awards during his time at WTTG, and, since joining News4, won his latest Emmy in 2025 for his reporting on the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
Wagner and his family live in Montgomery County, Maryland.
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Dispatcher recalls first reports about Pentagon on 9/11
A police officer who first spotted American Airlines Flight 77 just seconds before it hit the Pentagon Sept. 11, 2001, radioed what he saw to dispatcher Kyra Pulliam. News4’s Paul Wagner spoke with her.
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How a Kensington memorial is honoring 9/11 victims 25 years later
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Driver in fatal I-270 wrong-way crash admitted drinking, state's attorney says
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I-95 deadly bus crash: Videos from crash shown during driver's court hearing
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Bus driver from deadly I-95 crash appears in court
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Woman killed in Bowie crash caught on video as suspect fled police
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