EDT newscast, less than 12 hours after the shooting.Īt a vigil for the victims Wednesday evening, people came to express their pain and sadness over what happened. We are mourning Alison and Adam, but it is our job to find the facts," anchorwoman Melissa Ganoa said during the 5 p.m. "This is a hard day for all of us here at WDBJ7.
The fax was handed over to authorities and out of an abundance of caution the NYPD increased security outside TV stations in New York City, including WABC.īack in Roanoke, WDBJ staffers' grief was evident during the newscasts that followed the shooting, but so was their restraint. (deleted)!!!" He said Jehovah spoke to him, telling him to act. He continues, "As for Dylann Roof? You (deleted)! You want a race war (deleted)? BRING IT THEN YOU WHITE. It is unclear whose initials he is referring to. And my hollow point bullets have the victims' initials on them." "What sent me over the top was the church shooting. The Church shooting in Charleston happened on 6/17/15." "Why did I do it? I put down a deposit for a gun on 6/19/15. In the document the writer says "MY NAME IS BRYCE WILLIAMS" and his legal name is Vester Lee Flanagan II." He writes what triggered Wednesday's carnage was his reaction to the racism of the Charleston church shooting: Two hours after the shooting ABC News received a 23-page fax from someone claiming to be Bryce Williams. The facility is off of Smith Mountain Lake in Moneta, about 25 miles southeast of Roanoke. The shooting occurred when the team was covering a story at Bridgewater Plaza, a recreational facility with shops, restaurants, a mini golf course and boat rentals, ABC News reports. You send somebody to do a story on tourism, how can you ever expect something like this to happen?" he said. "You send people into war zones, you send people into dangerous situations, riots, and you worry that they're going to get hurt. Marks also reflected on the dangers of live reporting. Ward fell, too, and the camera he had been holding on his shoulder captured a fleeting image of the suspect holding a handgun. They saw Parker scream and run and heard her crying "Oh my God!" as she fell. TV viewers heard about the first eight of 15 shots. He points the gun at Parker and then at Ward, but he waits patiently to shoot until he knows that Parker is on camera, so she will be gunned down on air. It shows him approaching Parker and Ward, gun in hand, as they conducted an interview report about tourism at a shopping center during their morning broadcast. Flanagan filmed the shooting and later shared the video on social media. Her husband, Tim, told WDBJ Thursday that she is doing better. Like many viewers I was watching this morning's broadcast and couldn't understand really what was happening myself at that time," he continued.Ī third victim, Vicki Gardner, underwent emergency surgery and is currently recovering in stable condition with non-life threatening injuries. "It has really stopped me in my tracks this morning. Things were spiraling out of control," Franklin County Sheriff W.Q. "This gentleman was disturbed at the way things had turned out at some point in his life. He was found suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was airlifted to a local hospital, where he later died. Hours after the shooting, Virginia State Police located Flanagan's car and pursued him before his car crashed off the road. His victims were WDBJ-TV reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward - both were killed. He was a former news anchor who went by Bryce Williams on air. Investigators have identified the suspect, who is dead, as 41-year-old Vester Lee Flanagan II of Roanoke. Twenty-four hours after a disgruntled former employee opened fire during a live television report in Virginia, killing a TV reporter and photographer, new details about the victims and the suspect continue to emerge.