MONETA, Va. (AP) — A TV reporter and cameraman were shot to death during a live television interview Wednesday by a gunman who recorded himself carrying out the killings and posted the video on social media after fleeing the scene.
Authorities identified the suspect as a journalist who had been fired from the station earlier this year. Hours later and hundreds of miles away, he crashed a vehicle and troopers found him suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He died at a hospital later Wednesday, authorities said.
The shots rang out on-air as reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward were presenting a local tourism story at an outdoor shopping mall. Viewers saw her scream and run, and she could be heard saying “Oh my God,” as she fell. Ward fell, too, and the camera he had been holding on his shoulder captured a fleeting image of the suspect holding a handgun.
WDBJ quickly switched back to the anchor at the station, her eyes large and jaw dropping as she said, “OK, not sure what happened there.” The station later went live again, reporting on their own station and staff as the story developed.
Parker and Ward were killed as the gunman fired about 15 shots. Their interview subject, Vicki Gardner, was in stable condition later Wednesday after surgery for her wounds.
The suspect was identified as Vester Lee Flanagan II, 41, of Roanoke, by the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office. Flanagan appeared on WDBJ as Bryce Williams.
Jeffrey Marks, WDBJ’s president and general manager, said Flanagan had to be escorted by police out of the station when he was fired. Marks described him as “an unhappy man” and “difficult to work with,” always “looking out for people to say things he could take offense to.”
“Eventually after many incidents of his anger coming to the fore, we dismissed him. He did not take that well,” Marks explained.
Video posted hours after the shooting on Bryce Williams’ Twitter account and Facebook page showed an outstretched arm holding the handgun and firing repeatedly at Parker as she tried to run away.
The shooter appeared to walk up to the victims and stand a few feet away from them while holding the weapon. The three, in the midst of a live TV interview, do not seem to notice the gunman, who doesn’t start shooting until Ward points the camera at Parker.
Ward was engaged to a producer at the station, Melissa Ott, who was celebrating her last day on the job and was in the control room, watching it live, as the shooting unfolded, Marks said.
Tweets posted on Williams’ Twitter account Wednesday described workplace conflicts with both victims. They say Williams filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Parker, and that Ward had reported Williams to human resources.
Marks said Williams alleged that other employees made racially tinged comments to him, but said his EEOC claim was dismissed and none of his allegations could be corroborated.
“We think they were fabricated,” Marks said.
ABC News reported on its website that the network received a 23-page fax from someone claiming to be Williams. The network said the fax was turned over to authorities, and did not elaborate on its contents.
Both the victims were romantically involved with other employees at the station, according to Parker’s boyfriend, WDBJ anchor Chris Hurst. He wrote online that they hadn’t shared their relationship publicly but “were very much in love.” He said they had just moved in together and wanted to get married. “I am numb,” he said.
The shooting happened around 6:45 a.m. at Bridgewater Plaza in Franklin County, as Parker interviewed Gardner about the upcoming 50th anniversary festivities for Smith Mountain Lake, a local tourism destination.
Ward, 27, graduated from Virginia Tech and was engaged to a producer at the station, Melissa Ott, said WDBJ spokesman Mike Morgan.
“Adam was our go-to guy. He pretty much was available to do anything that we asked,” Morgan said. “He did live shots during our morning show for several years.”
Parker had just turned 24 and had joined the station as an intern after attending James Madison University, where she was the editor of the school’s newspaper, The Breeze. According to her Facebook page, Parker spent most of her life outside Martinsville, Virginia. She was an avid kayaker and attended community theater events in her spare time.
The station is based in Roanoke, Virginia, and serves the southwest and central part of the state. The shootings happened at a mall just off Smith Mountain Lake in Moneta, about 25 miles southeast of Roanoke.
MONETA, Va. (AP) — The latest on the fatal on-air shooting of two TV station employees in central Virginia (all times local):
UPDATED 12:45 p.m.: A woman shot and wounded while she was being interviewed by a television crew during a live broadcast is in stable condition after undergoing surgery.
Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital said on its Facebook page Wednesday that Vicki Gardner, a local economic development official who also was on the hospital’s board of directors, was recovering after the surgery. It did not elaborate on the nature of her wounds.
The hospital statement also says that hospital staff had gotten to know the two journalists killed, 24-year-old Alison Parker and 27-year-old Adam Ward, through many live reports from the hospital’s facilities. It says the two were more than just journalists — “they were good friends who will be missed.”
The suspect, Vester Flanagan, was found with a gunshot wound after leading police on a lengthy chase. His condition is unknown.
UPDATED 12:40 p.m.: The man suspected of killing a TV reporter and cameraman during a live broadcast sued a former employer over allegations of race discrimination in 2000.
Vester Flanagan, who also appeared on air under the pseudonym Bryce Williams, sued WTWC-TV in north Florida in March 2000. The lawsuit claimed that a producer called him a “monkey” in 1999 and that other black employees had been called the same name by other workers.
Flanagan also claimed that an unnamed white supervisor at the station said black people were lazy because they did not take advantage of scholarships to attend college.
The station generally denied the allegations of discrimination and said it had legitimate reasons for ending Flanagan’s employment, including poor performance, misbehavior with regard to co-workers, refusal to follow directions, use of profanity and budgetary reasons.
UPDATED 12:35 p.m.: Video of two TV station employees fatally shot on-air early Wednesday shows a fleeting image of a man in black pants and a blue top pointing a gun at the station’s camera.
That image was part of an intense search that followed for a suspect police identified as 41-year-old Vester Lee Flanagan II of Roanoke, who appeared on air at the TV station WDBJ in Virginia as Bryce Williams.
The shooting happened Wednesday morning outside a shopping center as a reporter interviewed an employee of the local chamber of commerce. The shooting played out during live TV on the broadcast from the station, WDBJ-TV, based in Roanoke and serving the southwest and central parts of Virginia.
Virginia State Police say they found the suspect about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. Police say troopers had pursued him on the highway, but he sped away and crashed. Police say he was found with life-threatening injuries.
UPDATED 12:30 p.m.: Virginia State Police say that as they were pursuing the suspect in an on-air fatal shooting, he ran off the road and crashed, and was found suffering from a gunshot wound.
Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said Wednesday that the suspect is being treated for life-threatening injuries.
The suspect has been identified as 41-year-old Vester Lee Flanagan II of Roanoke, who appeared on air at the TV station WDBJ in Virginia as Bryce Williams.
A reporter and cameraman from WDBJ-TV were killed in the incident Wednesday morning.
Police say that shortly before 11:30 a.m., they initiated a traffic stop on the suspect vehicle on Interstate 66. Police say the driver refused to stop and sped away from the trooper, but ran off the road and crashed. Police say the troopers approached and found the driver suffering from a gunshot wound, and he is being taken to a hospital.
UPDATED: 12:30 p.m.: A Twitter account under an apparent alias of a man suspected of killing a TV reporter and cameraman describes what he claims were workplace conflicts with the pair.
The suspect, 41-year-old Vester Flanagan, appeared on air at WDBJ in Virginia under the name Bryce Williams. The tweets posted just hours after the killings of 24-year-old Alison Parker and 27-year-old cameraman Adam Ward claim she made racist comments.
The tweets also say Williams filed a report with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and that she was still hired despite that report. The tweets also say Ward reported Williams to human resources after working with him one time. The nature of that complaint was not described.
UPDATED 12:15 p.m.: The Virginia TV station that saw a reporter and cameraman fatally shot in a live broadcast has gone live for its noon broadcast, giving details about the suspect.
WDBJ-TV said Wednesday that suspect 41-year-old Vester Lee Flanagan II appeared on air at the station as Bryce Williams.
Video of the shooting was posted on the Twitter account and Facebook page of someone under the name Bryce Williams. The video showed an outstretched arm holding the handgun and firing repeatedly at Parker as she tried to run away.
Also, ABC News reported that someone using the name Bryce Williams sent the organization a lengthy fax that it has turned over to authorities.
WDBJ-TV general manager Jeffrey A. Marks and an anchor spoke to viewers for the Wednesday broadcast, several hours after the early morning shooting. They told viewers more about the victims — reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward. They spoke about the victims as family members at the station. Both were dating co-workers.
UPDATED 11:55 a.m.: ABC News says it received a fax from someone who claimed to be Bryce Williams, a person on the staff at the Virginia station that saw two employees fatally shot on air.
ABC News says on its website that sometime between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, it received the fax. It describes it as a lengthy document of 23 pages. ABC News says it has turned the document over to authorities. ABC News did not offer any other details.
About 6:35 Wednesday morning, a reporter and cameraman were killed while doing a live broadcast outside a shopping center in central Virginia for WDBJ-TV. The shooting was broadcast live.
Video of the shooting was later posted on the Twitter account and Facebook page of someone under the name Bryce Williams. The video showed an outstretched arm holding the handgun and firing repeatedly at Parker as she tried to run away.
Suspected shooter tweeting alleged video of him murdering reporter and photographer. Please do not click. Give respect to victims
— Jana Barnello WGME (@JanaWGME) August 26, 2015
UPDATED 11:05 a.m.: An official has identified the suspect in the fatal on-air shooting of a reporter and cameraman from a TV station in central Virginia.
Becky Coyner with dispatch and records at the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office says the suspect is 41-year-old Vester Lee Flanagan II, of Roanoke.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe has said the suspect’s arrest is imminent. He says police are in pursuit on the interstate, and he says the suspect is believed to be a disgruntled employee of the station, WDBJ-TV.
The station employees were killed in incident Wednesday morning at a shopping center, where an employee with the local chamber of commerce was being interviewed. The station says that person was injured in the shooting.
UPDATED 10:55 a.m.: The Virginia TV station that saw two of its employees fatally shot during a live broadcast has identified a third person who was injured during the shooting.
WDBJ-TV says on its website that Vicki Gardner of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce was injured in incident Wednesday morning. She was being interviewed by reporter Alison Parker around 6:45 a.m. about tourism. Parker and cameraman Adam Ward were killed.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe has said the arrest of a suspect in the shooting is imminent. He says police are in pursuit of the suspect, believed to be a disgruntled employee of the station, on the highway.
UPDATED 10:45 a.m.: The general manager of a Virginia TV station that saw a reporter and cameraman fatally shot during a live broadcast says his employees have been told to stay in the building, with police protection.
Jeffrey Marks, the president and general manager of WDBJ-TV, said hours after the Wednesday morning shooting that police advised employees to stay inside.
He told The Associated Press: “Police have advised us that as long as this person is on the loose, we should stay in the building. We have police protection.”
Gov. Terry McAuliffe has said police are pursuing a suspect on the highway. He says authorities believe the suspect is a disgruntled TV station employee. Federal law enforcement is assisting in the manhunt, and federal officials say they have no indication that the shooting was connected to terrorism.
Marks says about 50 people work at WDBJ7.
He says: “It’s the kind of place where it’s all brothers and sisters. We’re all just real heartbroken.”
Marks says a nearby TV station that is normally a competitor is covering other, unrelated news and will share video with the station.
UPDATED: 10:40 a.m.: Virginia Gov. McAuliffe says police are chasing the suspect in a fatal on-air shooting, and his arrest is imminent.
McAuliffe says on a radio show on WTOP that the suspect is believed to be a disgruntled employee of WDBJ-TV. He says police are pursuing the suspect on Interstate 64.
McAuliffe made the remarks during an appearance on the radio station’s regular “Ask the Governor” show on Wednesday morning. Hours earlier, a reporter and a cameraman were killed on air as they worked on a live broadcast at a shopping center in Moneta, in central Virginia.
McAuliffe says that law enforcement personnel have a photo of the suspect and that he was known to the victims.
He says: “We believe it’s a disgruntled employee of the station, and they’re in pursuit.”
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office says in a news release that video recorded by the station’s camera shows the male suspect holding a weapon.
UPDATED: 10:10 a.m.: A spokesman for the Virginia TV station that saw two of its employees fatally shot on air describes the slain cameraman as WDBJ-TV’s “go-to guy.”
WDBJ spokesman Mike Morgan says 27-year-old Adam Ward was engaged to a producer at the station, Melissa Ott.
Morgan says Adam had been with the station for four years.
Morgan says: “Adam was our go-to guy. He pretty much was available to do anything that we asked. He did live shots during our morning show for several years.”
Also killed in the incident — at 6:45 a.m. at a shopping center overlooking a manmade lake — was reporter Alison Parker, who was dating the station’s 6 p.m. anchor, Chris Hurst.
No suspect has been identified, and no motive is known in the shooting.
UPDATED: 10 a.m.: An anchor at the Virginia TV station that saw two of its employees fatally shot on air says he was in love with the reporter who died and that they wanted to get married.
Reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward were killed in the Wednesday morning on-air shooting at a shopping center. Anchor Chris Hurst says in tweets that although the two didn’t share their relationship publicly, they were in love and had just moved in together.
Hurst tweeted: “We were together almost nine months. It was the best nine months of our lives. We wanted to get married. We just celebrated her 24th birthday.”
He also tweeted about the second victim, Ward, saying that Parker “worked with Adam every day. They were a team. I am heartbroken for his fiancee.”
Hurst described the TV station as a family, tweeting: “I am comforted by everyone at @WDBJ7.”
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9:40 a.m.: After the on-air fatal shooting of two employees of a central Virginia TV station, the general manager appeared on air and called it a terrible crime, saying authorities don’t know who the gunman is.
WDBJ-TV general manager Jeffrey A. Marks called the Wednesday morning incident at a shopping center “a terrible crime against two fine journalists.”
Marks said on air that neither the station nor officials know the motive for the shooting or any identify of a suspect. He says he has talked with authorities and they are working diligently to find out.
In the video of the incident, as the camera falls to the ground, it captures a fleeting image of a man in black pants and a blue top who appears to be holding a handgun.
The station has identified the two killed as reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward.
Marks said on air: “I cannot tell you how much they were loved. Alison and Adam.”
“Our hearts are broken.”
____
9:40 a.m.: Video shows the fatal shooting of two TV station employees who were killed in an on-air shooting in central Virginia.
In the video from the Wednesday incident, a female reporter is interviewing someone about tourism on Bridgewater Plaza in Franklin County. She was smiling when suddenly at least eight shots were heard. The camera appeared to be dropped on the ground. The reporter can be heard screaming.
As the camera falls to the ground, it captures a fleeting image of a man in black pants and a blue top who appears to be holding a handgun.
The station then switches back to a shot of an anchor back at the station, who has a shocked expression on her face.
In tweets and on its website, WDBJ-TV identified the two killed as reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward.
The station is based in Roanoke, Virginia, and serves the southwest and central part of the state. The shopping mall where the incident happened is just off Smith Mountain Lake.
Moneta is about 25 miles southeast of Roanoke.
UPDATED: 9:30 a.m.: After the on-air fatal shooting of two TV station employees in central Virginia, a picture of the two victims has started to emerge.
WDBJ-TV, based in Roanoke, says reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward were killed in the Wednesday morning shooting at a shopping center on a lake in Moneta.
According to the station website, Parker was a morning reporter. She graduated from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and was news editor of its recognized newspaper, The Breeze. She also had been an intern at WDBJ-TV.
The TV station also linked to her Facebook page, which says Parker spent most of her live outside Martinsville, Virginia.
Parker previously worked at WCTI NewsChannel 12 in Jacksonville, North Carolina, near Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. She was an avid kayaker and attended community theater events in her spare time.
The station says Ward was 27 and a graduate of Virginia Tech.
UPDATED 9:25 a.m.: Video shows the fatal shooting of two TV station employees who were killed in an on-air shooting in central Virginia.
In the video from the Wednesday incident, a female reporter is interviewing someone about tourism on Bridgewater Plaza in Franklin County. She was smiling when suddenly at least eight shots were heard. The camera appeared to get dropped on the ground. The reporter can be heard screaming.
The station then switches back to a shot of an anchor back at the station, who has a shocked expression on her face.
In tweets and on its website, WDBJ-TV identified the two killed as Alison Parker and Adam Ward.
The station is based in Roanoke, Virginia, and serves the southwest and central part of the state. The shopping mall where the incident happened is just off Smith Mountain Lake.
Moneta is about 25 miles southeast of Roanoke.
UPDATED 9:20 a.m.: The TV station employees who were killed in an on-air shooting in central Virginia have been identified as a 27-year-old and a 24-year-old.
In tweets and on its website, WDBJ-TV identified the two killed Wednesday as Alison Parker and Adam Ward. The station’s website says Ward was 27 and a graduate of Virginia Tech. Parker just turned 24 and attended James Madison University.
In a tweet, the station says “We love you, Alison and Adam.”
It was not clear who the shooter was.
The station says in tweets and in a story on its website that the incident happened at a shopping center. The station says law enforcement officials are on the scene.
The station is based in Roanoke, Virginia, and serves the southwest and central part of the state. The shopping mall is just off Smith Mountain Lake.
Moneta is about 25 miles southeast of Roanoke.
UPDATED 9:15 a.m.: The general manager of a TV station in Virginia says two crew members were fatally shot on air in central Virginia.
Jeffrey A. Marks, general manager of WDBJ-TV, identified the two killed as Alison Parker and Adam Ward.
The station says in tweets and in a story on its website that the incident happened Wednesday morning at a shopping center. The station says law enforcement officials are on the scene.
The station is based in Roanoke, Virginia, and serves the southwest and central part of the state. The shopping mall is just off Smith Mountain Lake.
Moneta is about 25 miles southeast of Roanoke.
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