A reporter and cameramen for WDBJ7 in Roanoke, Virginia, were shot and killed Wednesday morning, during a live broadcast. The shooter was identified as Bryce Williams, who was fired from the station in 2013. He committed suicide when confronted by police.
READ MORE: 2 WDBJ journalists killed during live broadcast in Virginia
Bryce Williams worked for WDBJ from March 2012 to February 2013 as a multimedia journalist, according to his LinkedIn profile.
READ MORE: Dead gunman's manifesto cites racial grievances, Charleston church attack
READ MORE: Virginia shooting victims: Tributes paid to Alison Parker and Adam Ward
27 August 2015
WDBJ News, the former employer of Bryce Williams/Vester Flanagan, has issued a statement regarding the reporter’s stint at the studio. The outlet states that pre-hire background check showed was positive but that his job performance and interaction with coworkers eventually led the station to dismiss him.
It also reveals that Williams had a tense relationship with coworkers but that when employees saw him outside of work, even after he had been fired, there were no confrontations.
Williams was given a final warning in December 2012, after which he complained to human resources about “perceived unfairness,” the station said. These allegations were reportedly investigated and “found to be without merit,” but Williams confronted a news anchor who was checking a story of his soon afterwards.
In February 2013, Williams was told that he was fired by two news managers and an HR employee. “He reacted angrily,” the station said, “telling them that they would have to call the police because he was going to ‘make a stink and it was going to be in the headlines.’”
Before Williams left the office, though, he apparently tried to contact the company’s CEO. Local police were called in to escort him out of the office, though he delivered a wooden cross to the director as he left and reportedly said, “You’ll need this.”
Williams later filed a discrimination and harassment complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, as well as a civil action in a local court. Both claims were dismissed.
The on-air shooting of two journalists in Virginia has rekindled the debate on how to balance gun rights with adequate screening to prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands.
However, the tragedy is unlikely to force US Congress to take any measures for tougher gun control, as it “has given absolute immunity to only one industry – the firearms industry,” says John Rosenthal, founder and chairman of the Stop Handgun Violence group.
“Sadly, the uniquely unregulated gun industry funds members of Congress to the extent that, not only do they have immunity from lawsuits, there is no regulations. The more gun violence, the more fear, the more fear, the more gun sales. Since Sandy Hook about three years ago, more than 90,000 Americans have died and Congress does nothing,” Rosenthal told RT.
READ MORE: ‘Hundreds of white people must be killed for gun laws to get stricter’ – John Rosenthal
26 August 2015
Pictures of the site where Vester Flanagan crashed his car have been released.
According to internal WDBJ documents obtained by the Guardian, problems with Williams/Flanagan began shortly after he was hired.
“On three separate occasions in the past month in the past month and a half you have behaved in a manner that has resulted in on or more of your co-workers feeling threatened or uncomfortable,” news director Dan Dennison wrote in the memo, addressed to Bryce Williams, in May 2012.
In July, Dennison reprimanded Williams/Flanagan for repeated incidents of threatening coworkers. "You have been the common denominator in these and other incidents outlined previously," the news director wrote.
"I’m not entirely sure where his head is at,” Dennison wrote to colleagues in December, noting Flanagan had one last chance to save his job.
The February 2013 termination notice cites “unsatisfactory job performance and inability to work as a team member.”
“A history of violent behavior is a far stronger and more important indicator of future violent behavior than mental illness is,” Dr. Jeffrey Swanson, professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University, told RT.
There has been some movement recently on laws that might make it possible to seize weapons from individuals deemed to pose a danger to others, he added.
Williams/Flanagan has reportedly cited Charleston church shooting as a trigger for his attack on WDBJ news crew. His tweets also reveal his frustrations.
RT's Marina Portnaya reports
Alison Parker was the subject of a 3-minute promotional video on the WDBJ7 YouTube channel, dated July 12, 2015. In it she speaks about herself, her hobbies, favorite TV characters and vacations...
At the press conference on I-66, a representative of the Virginia state police told reporters that there hadn't been much of a chase - "a mile and a half, maybe two" - before the suspect swerved off the road. By the time the trooper approached the car, Williams/Flanagan had shot himself.
The car was still being processed for evidence, so the authorities had no further details they could share.
While Williams/Flanagan's full manifesto-cum-suicide note is yet to be published anywhere, and is presumably evidence in the ongoing investigation, ABC has cited excerpts.
The shooter apparently said he was suffering from racial discrimination and sexual harrassment at work, as a homosexual African-American.
“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!!!!” Williams/Flanagan reportedly wrote.
Shortly after 2 pm Eastern US time, ABC news reported that "a man claiming to be Bryce Williams called... over the last few weeks, saying he wanted to pitch a story, and wanted to fax information."
A 23-page fax was received at 8:26 this morning - almost two hours after Williams filmed himself shooting a WDBJ7 news crew - and said he was driven by the Charleston church shooting in June.
“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…”ABC quoted the fax message. “What sent me over the top was the church shooting. And my hollow point bullets have the victims’ initials on them."
William Overton, Franklin County Sheriff, says he wasn't sure the news crew was even aware of the shooter. "It's going to be a long investigation," he said.
Sgt. Rick Garletts, VA State police, says Bryce was driving a Chevrolet Sonic, he was chased by police and ran off the road. Police found him with with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Virginia state police are about to begin a press conference at the 18-mile marker on I-66, where the shooter was captured.
Brian Moran, Virginia Secretary of Public Safety, said the shooter was pronounced dead at the hospital at 1:26 pm, according to the state police.
Reports suggest the suspect may have been airlifted to Inova Fairfax Hospital in northern Virginia.
Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe posted a statement about the murder of two WDBJ employees.
The 2000 complaint to the EEOC by Vester Flanagan (aka Bryce Williams) against WTWC-TV in Tallahassee, Florida, has been found and posted online.
RT has found the suspect's YouTube channel, featuring a six-minute "resume" video from his work in the media, dated 2013.
WDBJ anchors, holding back tears, explained it was the live signal from Adam Ward's camera, showing the face of the shooter, that helped police identify the suspect.
WDBJ has shared a selection of photos featuring Parker and Ward, in memory of their murdered colleagues.
Videos of the shooting, both the footage captured by Ward and the two fragments posted by the alleged shooter, have been circulating around the social media this morning.
For ethical reasons, RT is not posting any of the footage.
"Vester was an unhappy man," WDBJ general manager Jeff Marks said on the air, just before noon on Wednesday.
"He quickly gathered a reputation as someone who was difficult to work with.... He was looking for people to say things he could take offense to," Marks added.
After numerous incidents of anger, WDBJ dismissed him. "He did not take that well. We had to call the police to escort him from the building," Marks said.
After his dismissal, Flanagan filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but the EEOC found no evidence of anything unbecoming and "dismissed the claim out of hand."
The suspect, Vester Flanagan (aka Bryce Williams) reportedly sent a 23-page fax to ABC News at some point during the night. The document has been turned over to the authorities.
Fragmentary reports from social media and industry press releases indicate that Flanagan began working in television in 1993.
Shortly before being dismissed from the Tallahassee, Florida NBC affiliate in 2000, he filed a lawsuit alleging racism.
Flanagan was hired by WDBJ in 2012, and worked with both the victims for nearly a year.
"Suspect in TV shooting ran off road, crashed, was suffering from gunshot wound," AP quoted the Virginia State Police.
Reports are coming in that Vicki Gardner, the third victim of the attack, has survived. She is out of surgery, in stable condition.
WDBJ7 has been back on the air, reporting on the story. The anchors and managers in the studio are holding back tears as they speak about their murdered colleagues.
General manager Jeff Marks struggled to articulate the staff's emotions after the report that Flanagan may have survived. "If he dies, he took the coward's way out. If he lives, he'll spend the rest of his life in prison," Marks said.
Virginia State Police intitially reported that Flanagan shot and killed himself. However, they are now saying he is not dead, according to WDBJ7.
"He is in very critical condition", WDBJ cited the VSP, but "does have a pulse," and is still alive.
Flanagan's car was found on Interstate 66, far northeast of the scene of the crime, on the approach to Washington, DC.
Authorities have identified the suspect as Vester Lee Flanagan, 41. He was formerly employed at WDBJ7, using the name "Bryce Williams." A Facebook and Twitter user with that name posted a first-person recording of the shooting, before his accounts were suspended.
WDBJ spokesman Mike Morgan said that Adam Ward, 27, was the station’s “go-to guy” for morning shows. “He pretty much was available to do anything that we asked,” Morgan said.
Alison Parker was in a relationship with the station's evening news anchor, Chris Hurst.
Jeffrey Marks, the president and general manager of WDBJ-TV, said that police advised employees to stay inside. “Police have advised us that as long as this person is on the loose, we should stay in the building. We have police protection,” he told AP.
The suspect was named Vester Lee Flanagan when he worked at WDBJ, but went by Bryce Williams on Twitter. He had previously sued for racism.
Before he was suspended, he claimed that "Alison made racist comments" and that Adam went to HR after working with him once.
Several reports suggest suspect is on I-66, might have shot himself
Vester Flanagan, who was known on air as Bryce Williams, published the video of the attack.
The third victim of the attack was identified as Vicki Gardner, of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce. Gardner was seriously injured, and reports said she was in a hospital, undergoing surgery.
Live broadcasts interrupted by deadly on-air shooting
At 6:45 a.m., journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward were fatally shot during a live broadcast in Roanoke, Virginia.