Continuous coverage on CNN & FOXNEWS. Suspect hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.

Virginia TV journalists killed in on-air shooting; suspect shoots self

Reuters | August 26, 2015, 12:38pm EDT



Two television journalists were shot and killed in Virginia on Wednesday morning while conducting a live interview, and authorities said the suspect appeared to be a disgruntled current or former employee of the TV station.

Police pursued the suspect and in the late morning, an ABC local affiliate and CNN reported the suspected shooter had shot himself, but it was not known if he was dead or alive. The suspect was identified as Vester Flanagan, 41, according to a dispatcher for the Augusta County, Virginia, Sheriff's Department.

After the shooting of the journalists, someone claiming to have filmed it posted video online that appeared to be from shooter's vantage point.

The videos were posted to a Twitter account and on Facebook but were removed shortly afterward. One video clearly showed a handgun as the person filming approached the woman reporter.



The shooting occurred at about 6:45 a.m. EDT during an interview being broadcast live from Bridgewater Plaza, a Smith Mountain Lake recreation site with restaurants, shops, boating and arcades and holiday rentals.

The area is in the south-central part of the state, about 120 miles (190 km) from the capital of Richmond.

The journalists were filming an interview for the morning news show of CBS affiliate WDBJ7 in Roanoke, Virginia. In the broadcast, shots were heard and the reporter and the person being interviewed screamed and ducked for cover.

The reporter Alison Parker, 24, and the cameraman, Adam Ward, 27, died in the incident, WDBJ7 said. The woman being interviewed was wounded.

More at link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/26/us-usa-shooting-virginia-idUSKCN0QV1HY20150826

This is close to home for me, I grew up 20 miles away from where this occurred. One of my closest friends has a boat repair business behind the plaza where they were filming.

At least 15 shots are reported.
The lady Alison Parker is interviewing is with the Chamber of Commerce.
She was shot in the back and is in stable condition.

LIVE 2:00PM ET - News Conference: scroll down mid-page
http://www.wdbj7.com/news/local/law-enforcement-investigating-incident-at-bridgewater-plaza/34923086

or
http://myfox8.com/on-air/live-streaming-wc/

From CTH....

Inspired By Black Lives Matter Movement – Racially Inspired Gunman Kills Reporter and Camerman Live on TV – Later Kills Himself….
Posted on August 26, 2015 by sundance



A former TV news reporter fatally shot two ex-colleagues this morning during a live broadcast in Roanoke Virginia. Then he posted his own recorded videos of the killings on social media. It is reported he faxed a 23 page manifesto to ABC News, claiming his intent was racially motivated – inspired by Black Lives Matter propaganda.

Vester Lee Flanagan II, aka Bryce Williams, fatally shot himself after a five-hour manhunt, he was pronounced dead at 1:26 p.m.

Flanagan ranted about the victims on Twitter prior to the shooting, and uploaded a video of the shooting while on the run. He accused the victims — reporter Alison Parker, 24, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27 — of racial prejudice, alluding to complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the station’s human resources department.



(Via NY Daily News) […] The scene of sudden shock and horror was first captured at a shopping plaza in Moneta, Va., during a routine news story on WDBJ, a CBS affiliate in Roanoke.

“We heard screaming, and then we heard nothing,” general manager Jeff Marks said on air while announcing the deaths of Parker and Ward.

In the news clip, which aired about 6:45 a.m., Parker interviews Vicky Gardner, executive director of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce, at Bridgewater Plaza, talking about tourism in the area.

As they talk, about seven shots ring out. Parker and Gardner scream and take cover as Ward drops the camera.

A man standing near the two women, dressed in dark clothing and holding what appears to be a gun, is briefly seen in the news clip. He calmly steps away from the scene before the video cuts away.

The video then cuts to a stunned reporter in the WDBJ newsroom, who tries to quickly carry on with broadcast.



Reporters later confirmed Parker and Ward died. Gardner was shot in the back and is in surgery, police said.

“Our team’s on working on (the story) right now, through the tears,” Marks said.

Gardner was shot in the back and is in stable condition after undergoing surgery, police said.

Flanagan, 41, worked as a reporter at WDBJ for less than a year before he was fired in 2013 for disruptive behavior, the station manager Marks said.



....more at link
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/201 ... s-himself/

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Revenge race murder: Bitter black reporter who gunned down white ex-colleagues live on air and posted the video online blames Charleston shootings and anti-gay harassment in manifesto

• The shooter, believed to be former WDBJ general reporter Vester Lee Flanagan II, has died after committing suicide
• Early this morning, Flanagan (who goes by the name Bryce Williams) shot dead two ex-coworkers as they were filming an interview on live TV
• Reporter Alison Parker, 24, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27, died at the scene
• Vicki Gardner, the local woman who Parker was interviewing, was also shot in the back and was taken to the hospital for emergency surgery and is now in stable condition
• Before committing suicide, Flanagan took to his Twitter account to detail his grudges against Parker and Ward
• Flanagan claimed that Parker 'made racist comments' and that Ward complained to human resources about him
• He also posted a graphic first-person video of the shooting, which has since been taken down by Twitter
• In a 23-page document sent to ABC News two hours after the attack, Flanagan says he carried out the attack as revenge for the Charleston church shooting

WARNING: Videos of the shooting may be disturbing for some readers

Daily Mail
By Ashley Collman and Josh Gardner | August 26, 2015, 15:03 ET

The disgruntled former news reporter who shot dead two of his ex-coworkers during a live TV segment this morning has died after committing suicide.

Viewers of WDBJ, a small CBS affiliate in Moneta, Virginia, watched in horror this morning as Vester Lee Flanagan II shot dead 24-year-old reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward, 27, on live TV as the two were filming a light-hearted segment at 6:45am.

After carrying out the shocking on-air execution, Ward rented a car at the airport and then started driving east.

Police finally cornered Flanagan just before noon, about three hours northeast, in Fauquier County, Virginia, but he refused to stop and sped away from troopers.

Flanagan then crashed the car off the road and when police surrounded the vehicle, they found him suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He later passed away at a hospital in Northern Virginia.


In-depth information with a ton of photos:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3211529/WDBJ7-reporter-Alison-Parker-Adam-Ward-shot-live-TV-Moneta-gunman.html

UPDATED

After shooting, alleged gunman details grievances in 'suicide notes'
Pierre Thomas, Jack Cloherty, Jack Date, Mike Levine
11:44 AM, Aug 26, 2015
3 hours ago



A man claiming to be Bryce Williams called ABC News over the last few weeks, saying he wanted to pitch a story, and wanted to fax information. He never told us what the story was. This morning, a fax was in the machine (time stamped 8:26 a.m.) almost two hours after the shooting. A little after 10 a.m., he called again, and introduced himself as Bryce, but also said his legal name was Vester Lee Flanagan, and that he shot two people this morning. While on the phone, he said authorities are "after me," and "all over the place." He hung up. ABC News contacted the authorities immediately and provided them with the fax.

In the 23-page document faxed to ABC News, the writer says "MY NAME IS BRYCE WILLIAMS" and his legal name is "Vester Lee Flanagan II" He writes what triggered today's carnage was his reaction to the racism of the Charleston church shooting:

"Why did I do it? I put down a deposit for a gun on 6/19/15. The Church shooting in Charleston happened on 6/17/15 ..."

"What sent me over the top was the church shooting. And my hollow point bullets have the victims' initials on them."

It is unclear whose initials he is referring to.

He continues, "As for Dylann Roof? You (deleted)! You want a race war (deleted)? BRING IT THEN YOU WHITE …(deleted)!!!" He said Jehovah spoke to him, telling him to act.

Later in the manifesto, the writer quotes the Virginia Tech mass killer, Seung Hui Cho, and calls him "his boy," and expresses admiration for the Columbine High School killers. "Also, I was influenced by Seung–Hui Cho. That's my boy right there. He got NEARLY double the amount that Eric Harris and Dylann Klebold got…just sayin'."


Sources familiar with the investigation tell ABC News that in his attack, Flanagan used a Glock 19 -- a firearm similar to one that Cho used in his mass attack.

In Flanagan's often rambling letter to authorities, family and friends, he writes of a long list of grievances. In one part of the document, Flanagan calls it a “Suicide Note for Friends and Family."

He says he has been attacked by black men and white females
He talks about how he was attacked for being a gay, black man
He says has suffered racial discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying at work

A source with direct knowledge of his complaints against the station said a pair of tweets sent today and attributed to him accurately reflect previous complaints he lodged against the two people he killed today. These are the two Tweets: “Alison made racist comments,” and, “Adam went to hr on me after working with me one time!!!”

Nowhere in the document does he make specific threats against anyone from WDBJ.

In his manifesto, he says he encountered "nasty racist things" while working at WDBJ-7 in Roanoke, and that drove him to sue the station. "I marched down to the courthouse and sued WDBJ7 by myself and they settled! HA!"

He continues: "I can remember one day in particular... leaving the courthouse... feeling overwhelmed... confused... even some fear. But by golly I knew I HAD to fight. ... They truly f----d with my life and caused an awful chain of events." He says he even killed his cats in a forest "because of them."

Flanagan says that, "Hell yeah, I made mistakes," noting that he "should not have been so curt" with photographers in Roanoke. "(B)ut you know why I was? The damn news director was a micromanaging tyrant!!"

And, he writes, "the photogs were out to get me at WDBJ7... one went to HR after only working with me one time... the chief photog told his troops to [record video of] me if they saw be doing something wrong."

Flanagan then suggests that, after leaving WDBJ-7, he was offered a job at a station in Pennsylvania, but WDBJ-7 persuaded the Pennsylvania station to rescind the offer.

"I got to the point, this time around, where I wasn't even looking for a job. I don't need to deal with workplace bullies anymore. THAT is what lawmakers need to focus on," he adds.

“Yes, it will sound like I am angry," he writes in his manifesto. "I am. And I have every right to be. But when I leave this Earth, the only emotion I want to feel is peace....”

“The church shooting was the tipping point…but my anger has been building steadily...I’ve been a human powder keg for a while…just waiting to go BOOM!!!!”

He chronicles the "tough times" he's faced, including some "financial crashes." He says he used to work as a male escort but, "I am proud of it" because he "made thousands."

"(I) tried to pull myself up by the bootstraps," but, "The damage was already done and when someone gets to this point, there is nothing that can be said or done to change their sadness to happiness. It does not work that way. Meds? Nah. It's too much."

"And then, after the unthinkable happened in Charleston, THAT WAS IT!!!"

"Yeah I'm all f----- up in the head," he concedes.

...more at link
http://abcnews.go.com/US/shooting-alleg ... d=33336339

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

ABC have not released the 23 page FAX suicide rant.

Just teasers... as is typical of MSMedia whores...

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

TWO Journalists SHOT DEAD in Virginia LIVE ON TV: WATCH TWO VIDEOS
By UKandWorldNews.com
- August 26, 2015

The shocking moment US Cameraman and Interviewing Journalist are shoot dead whilst reporting. You can hear the gun shots and screams that were recorded on the cameraman’s camera as it fell to the ground with him in the State of Virginia, and in the town of Moneta and at Bridgewater Plaza, a large shopping centre close to Smith Mountain Lake.

WATCH THE SHOCKING MOMENT HERE:

SHOOTING ON LIVE TV DURING NEWS INTERVIEW - Bridgewater Plaza, Virginia WDBJ7



The two Journalists worked for WDBJ7 TV. They are reporter Alison Parker, aged 24 and Cameraman Adam Ward, aged 27.

The gunman is reported as being a former employee of the TV station. He had uploaded a video of the shooting to social media.

WATCH IT HERE: EXCLUSIVE FOOTAGE:


Shooting on LIVE TV!!! RAW POV UNCUT VIDEO WDBJ7 Reporter Killed In Bridgewater Plaza, Virginia



...more at link
http://ukandworldnews.com/2015/08/two-j ... ive-on-tv/

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

It gets worse.... the evil bastard KILLS CATS!!!


He says he even killed his cats in a forest "because of them."

Seriously...this guy was not at all tightly wrapped. NUTS!!!

#CatsLivesMatter

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

This image was posted to Vester Flanagan's Twitter account under his on-air name "Bryce Williams" on Aug. 19, 2015 with the text, "While at a worker's comp company in Roanoke, Va."

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

From CTH.......

Employer: Roanoke Shooter Was Grievance Activist Perpetually Looking For Something To Be Offended By….
Posted on August 26, 2015 by sundance

As a lifetime member of the perpetually aggrieved his history shows an unstable mind who filed numerous complaints and lawsuits. In addition to being an activist within the Black Lives Matter movement, he was a staunch Obama supporter which led to a biased reprimand during his employment as a “journalist”.
In a noted irony, the media refuses to publish his manifesto because it just doesn’t fit the PC narrative. Their refusal stems from the same insufferable ideology to only promote a specific narrative; the same narrative which fueled his anxiety.

MONETA, Va. (AP) — A TV reporter and cameraman were shot to death on live television Wednesday by their former colleague, a journalist who also recorded himself carrying out the killings and then posted the video on social media.

The gunman, who was fired in 2013 from WDBJ in Roanoke, Virginia, fled the scene and went online, posting the video on Facebook and Twitter. He also reportedly faxed a 23-page manifesto and “suicide note” to ABC News, describing himself as a “human powder keg” that was “just waiting to go BOOM!!!!”

Vester Lee Flanagan II, 41, who appeared on WDBJ as Bryce Williams, had evidently been planning the attack for some time, authorities said. As he fled, he switched vehicles, picking up a rental car he had previously reserved at an airport. Troopers caught up with him hours later and hundreds of miles away after he fatally shot himself and ran off the road.

...more at link
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/201 ... fended-by/

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

I read today was the last workday for the fiancée of Adam Ward. She also worked at WDBJ and the station was giving her a going away party as this was happening.

There are so many disturbing and sinister details leading up to this entire nightmare.

I think the fact cameraman Ward fell as he was shot and his camera captured the killer in action, is most eerie.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

'My bullets have the Charleston victims' initials on them': Rambling manifesto details simmering anger of 'human powder keg' TV killer who sued another station for racism a decade ago

• Vester Lee Flanagan II faxed a 23-page manifesto time-stamped 8:30 a.m. Wednesday to ABC News detailing his motives
  
• In it, the 41-year-old cited June's Charleston, South Carolina church shooting as the final straw, after which he put a deposit on a gun
  
• 'And my hollow point bullets have the victims' initials on them' he wrote before gunning down his co-workers Alison Parker and Adam Ward
  
• Flanagan, who went by Bryce Williams on-air, sued a North Florida news station in 2000 claiming he was called a 'monkey' by one of his bosses
  
• He posted a tweet that accused Alison Parker of racism as he was being pursued by cops Wednesday following her on-air murder

By Josh Gardner For Dailymail.com and Associated Press
Published: 16:34 GMT, 26 August 2015 | Updated: 05:14 GMT, 27 August 2015

The fired Virginia reporter who claimed responsibility for the on-air slayings of his colleague and her cameraman had a track record of claiming racism in the workplace and wrote a 23-page manifesto that called the Charleston, South Carolina church shooting the final straw before he bought a gun.

In the letter sent to ABC News two hours after the shooting, Vester Lee Flanagan II--who was raised a Jehovah's Witness in California--details his sinister reasoning for Wednesday's slayings.

Dylann Roof, the Virginia Tech shooter, Columbine and Jehovah himself all factored in, he wrote.

'As for Dylann Roof? You (deleted)! You want a race war (deleted)? BRING IT THEN YOU WHITE …(deleted)!!!' he wrote in his final screed.



Just two days after the tragedy in Charleston, Flanagan bought a gun, he said.

'What sent me over the top was the church shooting. And my hollow point bullets have the victims' initials on them.'

A little over three months later, Alison Parker and Adam Ward would be killed--slaughtered on live TV outside Roanoke.

Flanagan also mentions the Virginia Tech mass shooter Seung Hui Cho.

He calls the madman 'his boy' while also applauding the Columbine High School killers.

'Also, I was influenced by Seung–Hui Cho. That's my boy right there. He got NEARLY double the amount that Eric Harris and Dylann Klebold got…just sayin.'

Also in the letter, which he at one point refers to as his 'Suicide Note for Friends and Family', Flanagan lists grievances including racial discrimination at work as well as sexual harassment and bullying.

He writes that he's been attacked by black men and white women as he discusses the difficulties of going through life as a gay man of color.

While Flanagan says the Charleston shootings were the tipping point for him, it's clear he's been unwell for some time--and he admits as much.

'My anger has been building steadily...I've been a human powder keg for a while…just waiting to go BOOM!!!!'

Hours after he sent ABC News the fax, Flanagan reached out again, this time by phone.

He told them he'd killed two people that morning and that the cops were after him and 'all over the place.'

'This gentleman was disturbed at way things had turned out at some point in his life. Things were spiraling out of control,' Franklin County Sheriff W.Q. 'Bill' Overton Jr. later said at a news conference.



.....more at link
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... acism.html

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light