ROANOKE, Va. (CBSDC) — The suspect in a shooting that left a TV reporter and cameraman dead while they were doing a live news report in Franklin County, Virginia
, Wednesday morning has shot himself on I-66, police tell WDBJ-7 in Roanoke.
He is in critical condition.
The suspect has been identified as Vester Flanagan, who was also known by the name Bryce Williams when he was a reporter at that station.
The victims, Alison Parker, 24, and videographer Adam Ward, 27, also worked at WDBJ-7.
A first-person video of the shooting was posted on a Twitter account labeled @bryce_williams7 that has since been suspended.
A work-related rant was posted on the Twitter account before the video:
The incident took place at Bridgewater Plaza in Franklin County. Parker was interviewing Vicki Gardner, head of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce, when gunshots begin to ring out. Parker and Gardner are seen running away while the camera, held by Ward, appears to be dropped.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was involved in the manhunt, along with local authorities.
“We heard screaming and then we heard nothing,” Jeff Marks, the station’s general manager, said during the WDBJ broadcast.
The Roanoke Times reports that Gardner was shot in the back and is in surgery.
A still image of the suspect was taken from video that was recorded by a WDBJ camera:
Parker was in a relationship with station anchor Chris Hurst, while Ward was engaged to one of the station’s producers. This is a developing story.
“He is in critical condition.”
He won’t survive.
MK Ultra ALL THE WAY!!!
“CBS journalists shot and killed during live broadcast in Virginia; suspect dead”
SO shocked…
BUT THE SHOOTER HAS A WHITE HAND????!!!!!!!
HOLY W T F!
YES…..
Wait and see, Joe…. The video will re-emerge with a black man’s hand holding the gun, or we will discover that Mr. Flanagan/Williams has the pigment condition vitiligo on his shooting hand. (That IS a caucasian hand in that video), and I do not believe the shots were not blanks – it appeared 3 of the 1st 4 shots were properly aimed.
I cry “shenanigans” on this whole farce.
As Mark Koernke is fond of saying:
“And you guys fear these incompetent goons?”
These buffoons couldn’t find their own backsides with both hands.
I’m sure they’ll say “the over-exposure of the camera made his black hands appear white”.