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Yahoo: Gunman Kills Virginia TV News Reporter, Cameraman on Air


Dan T.

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Wow that's absolutely disgusting.

 

It also means this is going to likely end with him taking his own life or suicide by cop, because there's basically no question he's going to be found guilty almost immediately if he's captured at this point.

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UPDATE: The Augusta County Sheriff's Office has confirmed they are seeking a man named Vester Lee Flanagan II in relation to the shooting.

Flanagan, 41, of Roanoke, previously worked for WDBJ under the name Bryce Williams.

He was hired at the station in the spring of 2012 after working at stations in San Francisco and in Florida, North Carolina, Texas and Georgia. WDBJ let him go in February 2013.

In May 2014, Flanagan filed suit against the station in Roanoke General District Court, seeking money he felt he was owed and additional damages. His suit alleged discrimination by the station and named most of the WDBJ staff in his complaint, but in July 2014, the case was dismissed by a judge.

Over the past week, a Facebook page in the name "Bryce Williams" was updated to include silent video recordings of stories Flanagan worked on as Bryce Williams. One of the clips showed Flanagan in a gun store, holding a weapon.

EARLIER: Two WDBJ-TV (Channel 7) journalists are dead and a third person has been injured after shots were fired at Smith Mountain Lake this morning.

Franklin County Sheriff's Office deputies are searching for a suspect after multiple shots were fired at Bridgewater Plaza next to the Hales Ford Bridge, according to a sheriff's office spokesman.

Virginia State Police Sgt. Rick Garletts confirmed sometime around 10:30 a.m. that investigators have identified a suspect, but they will not confirm the person's identity and the suspect was not in custody when he said that.

Part of the incident was caught on video during WDBJ's morning broadcast. The station was interviewing Vicki Gardner, head of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce.

WDBJ President and General Manager Jeff Marks announced in a live broadcast at 8:45 a.m. that reporter Alison Parker, 24, and photographer Adam Ward, 27, had died.

In an email, Barb Nocera, special projects manager with the chamber of commerce, said that Gardner was shot in the back and is in surgery.

“We always say ‘senseless’ crime,” Marks said, as he was joined by other members of the news team at the anchor desk. “How can this individual have robbed Alison and Adam’s families of their lives and loves?”

Marks said that he had spoken to Virginia State Police and that no motive or suspect had been revealed. He said the shooting occurred around 6:45 a.m.

Kimberly McBroom, anchorwoman of the “Mornin’” newscast who worked with Parker during many early-morning broadcasts, said, “We’ve lost two members of our family. [Others have] lost a daughter, a son, a fiancee.”

Marks said Parker and WDBJ evening co-anchor Chris Hurst were in a relationship and Ward was engaged to WDBJ producer Melissa Ott, who had recently taken a new job and had marked her last day at the station. Ward and Ott were leaving the area soon.

McBroom said that Ward had told her, “I’m going to get out of news. I’m gonna do something else.”

Around 9:30 a.m., Hurst tweeted that although they had kept their relationship somewhat private, he and Parker had recently moved in together.

“She was the most radiant woman I ever met. And for some reason she loved me back. She loved her family, her parents and her brother,” Hurst wrote. “I am numb.”

Jean Jadhon said during the announcement that the WDBJ staff was “in a state of shock here. People in the newsroom are crying. It’s tough covering [a shooting] when you don’t people [involved]. When it’s two of your own …”

McBroom: “We’ve lost two friends, two coworkers. These two were more than what you see here on TV.”

Marks said that WDBJ employees had been scheduled to hold a meeting today to discuss some happy announcements for the company.

“Instead, what we’re going to do is a memorial. Something we never imagined what a day was going to be like.”

Lt. Phillip Young said the department has few details about the shooting. No description of the suspect was immediately available.

In the wake of the incident, Roanoke and Bedford, Botetourt and Roanoke county schools are all on a partial lockdown.

A meeting this afternoon 50th Anniversary Steering Committee and Business Meetings that were scheduled for this afternoon are canceled.

Roanoke police spokesman Scott Leamon also said officers had been posted at the other television stations and media outlets around the city.

"It's just a precaution," Leamon said.

Laker Media contributed to this report.

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