He recalled that police had to escort Flanagan out of the building because he refused to leave when he was fired. "Eventually after many incidents of his anger coming to the fore, we dismissed him. Their interview subject, Vicki Gardner, also was shot, but emerged from surgery later Wednesday in stable condition.įlanagan, 41, who was fired from WDBJ in 2013, was described by the station's president and general manager, Jeffrey Marks, as an "an unhappy man" and "difficult to work with," always "looking out for people to say things he could take offense to." WDBJ quickly switched to the anchor back at the station, clearly shocked, who told viewers, "OK, not sure what happened there." Their live spot Wednesday was nothing out of the ordinary: They were interviewing a local official at an outdoor shopping mall for a tourism story before the shots rang out.Īs Parker screamed and Ward collapsed, Ward's camera kept rolling, capturing the image of the suspect pointing the gun. Parker and Ward were a regular team, providing stories for the station's "Mornin'" show on everything from breaking news to feature stories on subjects like child abuse. He described himself as a "human powder keg," that was "just waiting to go BOOM!!!!" The fax also included admiration for the gunmen in mass killings at places like Virginia Tech and Columbine High School in Colorado. shooting that was part-manifesto, part-suicide note - calling himself a gay black man who had been mistreated by people of all races, and saying he bought the gun two days after nine black people were killed in a June 17 shooting at a Charleston church. He sent ABC's newsroom a 23-page fax two hours after the 6:45 a.m. He used his insider's knowledge of TV journalism against his victims - a 24-year-old reporter who was a rising star and a 27-year-old cameraman engaged to a producer who watched the slaughter live from the control room.įlanagan's planning may have started weeks ago when, ABC News said, a man claiming to be Bryce Williams called repeatedly, saying he wanted to pitch a story and needed fax information. Wednesday's on-air murders reverberated far from central Virginia because that's just what the killer wanted - not just to avenge perceived wrongs, but to gain maximum, viral exposure. He later ran off a highway while being pursued hundreds of miles away and was captured he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He fled the scene but then posted his own 56-second video of the murders on Twitter and Facebook. That man, authorities said, was Flanagan - a former staffer who used the on-air name of Bryce Williams and was fired by WDBJ, a man who always was looking for reasons to take offense, colleagues recalled.
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