Posted on 08/26/2015 8:52:10 AM PDT by unlearner
Suspect called 'difficult to work with'
Police in Moneta, Virginia, said a shooter fired at a WDBJ-TV media crew in the middle of their live shot at Bridgewater Plaza, killing the cameraman and correspondent and fleeing the scene.
Multiple outlets reported the suspect shot himself, but police havent yet confirmed.
The Associated Press, citing police, released the suspects name as Vester Lee Flanagan II, age 41, of Roanoke. But he went by another name while working as a reporter at that station, as well as ones in North Carolina and Texas: Brice Williams.
Officials with the ATF and FBI are looking at the suspects social media accounts, which have been suspended, to determine his mental state and background. Various sources say he was targeting his victims, however.
Killed were Alison Parker and Adam Ward. Parker, the on-camera journalist, was 24; Ward, the photographer, was 27. A third victim, who was being interviewed Vicki Gardner, head of the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce was shot in the back and is undergoing surgery at a nearby hospital, Fox News reported.
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
you can see he held the gun up, aimed at the reporter, and no one noticed. it was 10-15 seconds before he aimed again and opened fire
And of course McAullife took the cue and lamented the failure of still-more-restrictive gun control legislation.
yeah, it’s being posted on youtube and they’re scrubbing it fast as they can. being this is our local station we watch every, morning I downloaded one of them for my husband for later (and then I’ll delete it too). A friend of ours has a son who is also a cameraman for that station. I’ll ask her what he has to say about the killer. He’s worked there a long time and must have known him :(
bryce
have paid the price
rest in peace?
not in the least
burma shave
Been telling my kids this for some time: Just because technology progresses — doesn’t mean society does as well.
Interesting question. Could have been a story that was pitched and put on the calendar in advance. Early morning and Chamber of Commerce suggests that.
I haven’t heard the timeline but on the other hand, she was doing a live shot, had to stay focused on the subject and if she would have seen his face and not the gun, as a former co-worker he probably wouldn’t have registered as an immediate threat. THe poor cameraman probably had no idea.
In my local TV market which is of similar size, reporters are jacks of all trades, setting up the camera, doing an interview, then packing it back to the station and maybe doing an on-air news segment. So the idea of sending a security guard with each reporter is probably something the stations can’t afford. On the other hand, the can’t afford not to.
What a disgusting cowardly POS. Such excrement should be buried in the sewer by law.
I saw the footage-—very sad.
the screen shots from his facebook page...or twtter? really tell the story of one distorted head case!
Most of that created rather large blips on my gaydar screen. Besides the weird photos, he mentions the cameraman going to HR (one would assume to file some sort of complaint - for sexual harassment?) after working with him “one time” as a justification for shooting the guy.
Yup. I'm a human racist.
prayers up for the victims.
Our ND hired and fired suspected shooter @Bryce_williams7 in 2000 in Tenn. Fired for bizarre behavior and threatening employees. @SanDiego6
https://twitter.com/HeatherMyersSD6/status/636566652692201472
These dirtbags that murder people then kill themselves, by LAW, should be buried in unmarked unnamed graves. After initially being identified, every time the incident is spoken about on the news or in print the coward should be referred to as the dirtbag..
Wow. What a savage, primitive animal that man was.
There are millions like him loose in our society.
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