Revenge race murder: Bitter black reporter who gunned down white ex-colleagues live on air and posted the video online blames Charleston shootings and anti-gay harassment in manifesto

• The alleged shooter, former WDBJ general reporter Vester Lee Flanagan II, died at 1:30pm after committing suicide
• At 6:45am Wednesday morning, Flanagan (who goes by the name Bryce Williams) shot dead two ex-coworkers as they were filming an interview on live TV
• Reporter Alison Parker, 24, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27, died at the scene  
• Vicki Gardner, the local woman who Parker was interviewing, was also shot in the back and was taken to the hospital for emergency surgery and is now in stable condition
• Before committing suicide, just after 11am, Flanagan took to his Twitter account to detail his grudges against Parker and Ward
• Flanagan claimed that Parker 'made racist comments' and that Ward complained to human resources about him 
• He also posted a graphic first-person video of the shooting, which has since been taken down by Twitter  
• In a 23-page document sent to ABC News two hours after the attack, Flanagan says carried out the execution as revenge for the Charleston church shooting
• WARNING: Videos of the shooting may be disturbing for some readers 

By Ashley Collman For Dailymail.com and Josh Gardner For Dailymail.com

Published: 07:52 EST, 26 August 2015 | Updated: 15:41 EST, 26 August 2015

A man who was fired from his job as a television reporter two years ago took out revenge against the small-town Virginia news station by executing two of his former coworkers on live television, and then posting disturbing first-person video of the attack on social media. 

Viewers of WDBJ, a CBS affiliate in Moneta, Virginia, watched in horror this morning as Vester Lee Flanagan II shot dead 24-year-old reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward, 27, on live TV as the two were filming a light-hearted segment at 6:45am.

After carrying out the shocking on-air execution, Ward fled and posted video of the attack on social media while also writing about his grudges against the two young journalists in a Twitter rant. Five hours later, police cornered Flanagan a three hours drive northeast in Fauquier County, Virginia where he shot himself in an attempt to commit suicide. Flanagan initially survived the gunshot wound, but died not long after at approximately 1:30pm 

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A disgruntled former news reporter filmed himself executing two of his ex-coworkers as they shot a live television segment in Moneta, Virginia Wednesday morning. Above, the video taken by alleged gunman Vester Lee Flanagan, who went by the name Bryce Williams

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Reporter Alison Parker, 24, tries to flee as about eight gunshots ring out during the live taping. Parker and cameraman Adam Ward, 27, died at the scene 

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While Flanagan was recording the video on his own camera, the shooting was being played out on live TV. Above, a grab of this morning's WDBJ newscast with Parker on the left and Vicki Gardner on the right. Gardner was being interviewed by Parker at the time and suffered a bullet wound to the back. She is now in stable condition after undergoing emergency surgery 

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After cameraman Ward dropped to the ground, his camera kept rolling and the shooter is seen in the background leveling a gun at him  

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The feed then cut back to the studio where the morning anchor had an expression of sheer shock on her face after witnesses the crime

Before he was caught by police, Flanagan took to Twitter to explain his reasons for killing his former coworkers.

Flanagan, who is African American, wrote that Parker made 'racist comments' and that a complaint was filed against her through the equal employment opportunity commission, but his station chose to hire her anyway.

As for Ward, Flanagan says that after working with the cameraman once, Ward complained to HR about the former general assignment reporter. It's unclear what - if anything - happened between the two men. 

But the most shocking post of all was a video Flanagan took of the attack, which he shared on his Twitter and Facebook.The chilling clip is taken from Flanagan's point of view and shows him approaching the two journalists as they were interviewing Vicki Gardner, the local chamber of commerce. 

He opens fire first on Ward and then turns to kill Parker, who is seen running away in fear. Parker and Ward died at the scene while Gardner was rushed to Roanoke Memorial Hospital for emergency surgery and is now in stable condition. 

After posting the graphic video of the attack, Flanagan's Twitter account was suspended.

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Both Parker, 24 (left), and Ward, 27 (right), died at the scene. Both were in relationships with other employees at the station 

Flanagan also allegedly contacted ABC News after the attack, sending the news network a 23-page document elaborating on his motivations, saying he wanted revenge for the Charleston church shooting and was inspired by infamous mass shooters.

ABC says a man by the name of Bryce Williams first contacted them a few weeks ago, wanting to pitch a story but he wouldn't say what it was about. 

This morning, that same man contacted them again, sending them a fax two hours after the shooting. 

In the fax,described as a suicide note to friends and family, Flanagan says he became angered after the Charleston church shooting and that Jehovah made him act. 

'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…'

'What sent me over the top was the church shooting. And my hollow point bullets have the victims’ initials on them.'

'As for Dylann Roof? You [redacted]! You want a race war [redacted]? BRING IT THEN YOU WHITE …[redacted]!!!”

At the same time, he professes a deep respect for other mass shooters like Virginia Tech gunman Seung-Hui Cho.

'Also, I was influenced by Seung–Hui Cho. That’s my boy right there. He got NEARLY double the amount that Eric Harris and Dylann Klebold got…just sayin’.

He goes on to say that he has faced both racial and sexual discrimination as a black, gay man and that he was just waiting to explode.

'Yes, it will sound like I am angry...I am. And I have every right to be. But when I leave this Earth, the only emotion I want to feel is peace...'

'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!!!!'

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Flanagan was rushed to the hospital in critical condition but passed a way about two hours later at approximately 1:30pm 

Earlier this morning,  Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe said police are 'right behind' the suspect and that he would be in custody soon. 

'Law enforcement personnel have a photo of the suspect. We believe it's a disgruntled former employee of the station, and they're in pursuit,' Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe told WTOP.

Flanagan previously worked as a multimedia and general assignment reporter at WDBJ, before he was fired two years ago. 

WDBJ viewers watched in horror this morning as Flanagan opened fire on the two young journalists on live TV.

Flanagan shot dead reporter Parker and Ward as the two were conducting a live interview with chamber of commerce representative Gardner about an upcoming event at a local lake.

Suddenly eight shots ring out and screams are heard as the women duck down and the camera falls to the floor. The camera is still running as a person dressed in all black appears and aims a gun at Ward. 

'It's my very very sad duty to report... that Alison and Adam died this morning,' WDBJ's general manager came on the air to say after the incident. 

It's then believed that Flanagan fled to the airport, where he picked up a rental car to evade police. All morning, alerts went out across western Virginia, warning that the gunman was on the loose. He was finally brought to a stop in Fauquier County, about three hours northeast of Moneta, just before noon. Reports first stated that Flanagan had committed suicide, but authorities changed their statement to say that he was still alive. Nevertheless, he passed away around 1:30pm at a hospital in northern Virginia. 

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Flanagan previously worked at WDBJ as a general assignment reporter. Pictured above during his reporting days

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After fleeing the scene, Flanagan allegedly wrote these series of tweets after killing Parker and Ward Wednesday morning in Moneta, Virginia

Both Parker and Ward were in relationships with other employees at the news station. Ward was engaged to Melissa Ott, a news producer who was working on the show that morning and watched from the control room as the shooting happened.

It was Ott's last day on the job. She was about to start a new job in Charlotte, North Carolina and Ward planned to move with her. The crew had a party earlier that morning to celebrate her last day.

Solina Lewis, who described herself as a friend of Ott, spoke highly of Ward in a statement to Breaking911. 

'He was an incredible person, a great journalist and would have been a great father and husband,' Lewis said. 

'He was sweet, hard working, he came over to my apartment and put furniture together for me without Melissa even there. Even though he had to get up for work and do the early morning live shot the next day.'

Parker's boyfriend of nine months was WDBJ public safety and mental health reporter Chris Hurst, 28. 

The couple had just moved in together. Hurst took to Twitter to convey his unfathomable pain: 'It was the best nine months of our lives. We wanted to get married.We just celebrated her 24th birthday,' he wrote.

Hurst only revealed the relationship to viewers after the tragedy.

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Ward was engaged to WDBJ news producer Melissa Ott (left). Ward pictured proposing to Ott in a photo posted to Facebook 

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Ott (picured) was watching in the control room Wednesday morning when the shooting happened. It was also her last day on the job. Ott was starting a new job in Charlotte, North Carolina and Ward was going to move with her. The news crew had a party for Ott that morning

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Parker's (left) boyfriend of nine months was WDBJ public safety and mental health reporter Chris Hurst (right). The two had recently just moved in together 

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Chris Hurst, main anchor at WDBJ-TV shows photos in a scrapbook from his relationship with murdered TV reporter Alison Parker

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Moneta is located in northwestern Virginia, about 40 minutes southeast of Roanoke. The shooting happened around 6:45am near Bridgewater Plaza 

'We didn't share this publicly, but [Alison] and I were very much in love. We just moved in together. I am numb.'

According to her bio at WDBJ7.com, Parker was the station's morning reporter. A local girl, Parker had spent much of her life outside Martinsville, about an hour from where she was tragically gunned down Wednesday.

Prior to her time at WDBJ, Parker worked near the Marine base Camp Lejeune for the Jacksonville, North Carolina bureau of WCTI.

She graduated from James Madison University just three years ago. While there, she interned at the local ABC/Fox affiliate and was news editor for her university's nationally recognized newspaper, The Breeze. 

According to her station biography, she says she liked to whitewater kayak, play with her parents' dog Jack and attend community theater events.

'She was so enthusiastic and she was doing what she loved,' Deon Guillory, a reporter who had Parker as an intern in college, told CNN. 'She was living her dream.' 

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Parker (left) and Ward (right) worked the early shift together often and were beloved by their coworkers. They both started off as interns at the station 

Photographer Ward was a Virginia Tech graduate who attended high school in Salem, less than an hour from the scene of his murder.

The two Virginia natives often worked together on WDBJ stories and started off at the station as interns. 

In April, they traveled together to Appomattox for the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War. In February, the station posted photos of the duo to Facebook as they dressed up as bride and groom at a local bridal store. 

'Adam was a delightful person. He worked hard - you could tell he loved what he was doing,' Robert Denton, who taught Ward at Virginia Tech University, said. 

However, another reporter at WDBJ said Ward recently told her that he was looking into getting out of news and switching careers. 

'She was the most radiant woman I ever met': Fellow anchor's incredible tribute to dead girlfriend hours after she was shot dead on air 

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Hurst (right) and Parker (left) had been dating for about nine months

The heartbroken boyfriend of Alison Parker, the Virginia reporter gunned down on air, is speaking out on his unfathomable grief mere hours after losing the woman he loved.

WDBJ health reporter Chris Hurst, 28, took to Twitter Wednesday morning to celebrate his love for Parker and to thank a community that's run to his side after Parker and her cameraman, 27-year-old Adam Ward, were killed by a crazed gunman while taping a story in near the small town of Moneta.

'She was the most radiant woman I ever met. And for some reason she loved me back. She loved her family, her parents and her brother,' Hurst tweeted before 10 a.m.

Hurst and Parker hadn't yet been together a year when they moved in together recently.

'We were together almost nine months. It was the best nine months of our lives. We wanted to get married. We just celebrated her 24th birthday,' he wrote.

While it appeared that co-workers were aware of the romance, Hurst revealed on Twitter Wednesday that their viewers were likely in the dark until the unthinkable murder shined light on the relationship.

'We didn't share this publicly, but @AParkerWDBJ7 and I were very much in love. We just moved in together. I am numb,' he wrote.

With Ward behind the camera, Parker was interviewing Vicki Gardner, the local chamber of commerce director, for a light-hearted segment at 6:45am when about eight shots rang out.

Screams were heard as the women ducked and the camera fell to the floor. A person dressed in all black was then seen standing nearby with what appeared to be a gun raised in one hand pointed at Ward.

The general manager at the CBS station later came on the air to confirm Parker and Ward's deaths. Parker was 24 and Ward was 27.

Police say they know who the suspect is and are currently hunting down the shooter. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe says the gunman is believed to be a disgruntled employee of the station.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3211529/WDBJ7-reporter-Alison-Parker-Adam-Ward-shot-live-TV-Moneta-gunman.html#ixzz3jxMHw5aE
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