Fatal Shooting Of Reporter, Cameraman On Live TV Leaves Nation In Shock
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The CBS station in Roanoke, Virginia, is mourning the deaths of a reporter and a cameraman.
Authorities say a disgruntled former employee gunned them down on live TV Wednesday morning, and now the suspected gunman is also dead.
The cell phone video is horrifying, taken by alleged gunman Vester Flanagan as he walked toward the victims. He raises the gun, hesitates, even pulls the gun back.
Flanagan waits and then pulls the trigger.
WDBJ television reporter Alison Parker, 24, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27, were shot and killed live on the air.
Also shot was local chamber of commerce executive Vicki Gardner. Parker was interviewing her on the morning newscast when the shooting started. Gardner is expected to survive.
"Both Parker and Ward were residents of Roanoke, Virginia," said Franklin County Sheriff Bill Overton. "Let us not forget they grew up in this area. They were part of this community."
Authorities say Flanagan was a former station reporter. He worked at the station for a year before he was fired.
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"At some point in his life, things were apparently spiraling out of control," said Sheriff Overton.
In the hours after the shooting, Flanagan posted tweets and Facebook posts blaming racial issues for his anger toward the two victims.
He's also accused of sending a 23-page fax to ABC News.
In it, it states, "The church shooting was the tipping point, but my anger has been building steadily. I've been a powder keg for a while, just waiting to go boom."
"After many incidents of his anger coming to the fore, we dismissed him, and he did not take that well," said WDBJ General Manager Jeff Marks.
Co-workers called Parker a rock star reporter.
Ward, at the station four years, was engaged to a morning TV producer at WDBJ. She was in the control room watching the live broadcast when he was shot and killed. Co-workers are in shock.
"They did great work, put it into everything they did. I'm going to miss them," said Marks.
As Ward fell to the ground during the gunfire, it captured an image of the gunman pointing his weapon. Police say that gave them the critical lead.
Nearly six hours later, authorities say Flanagan turned his gun on himself in a rental car on a local freeway.
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