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Virginia journalists killed on air; suspected gunman dies at hospital

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He planned it all so carefully — a choreographed execution of two former colleagues, broadcast live to a horrified television audience, and also recorded by him and then shared worldwide across social media.

Vester Lee Flanagan’s own video shows him approaching WDBJ reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward, gun in hand, as they conduct an interview. 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.

TV viewers heard about the first eight of 15 shots. They saw Parker scream and run, and heard her crying “Oh my God!” as she fell. Ward fell, too, and the camera he had been holding on his shoulder captured a fleeting image of the suspect holding a handgun.

That man, authorities said, was Flanagan — a former staffer who used the on-air name of Bryce Williams and was fired by WDBJ last year, a man who always was looking for reasons to take offense, colleagues recalled. He fled the scene but then posted his own 56-second video of the murders on Twitter and Facebook. He later ran off a highway while being pursued hundreds of miles away and was captured; he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

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 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.

Flanagan’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. He sent ABC’s newsroom a 23-page fax two hours after the 6:45 a.m. 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. The fax also included admiration for the gunmen in mass killings at places like Virginia Tech and Columbine High School in Colorado.

He described himself as a “human powder keg,” that was “just waiting to go BOOM!!!!”

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. 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.

As Parker screamed and Ward collapsed, Ward’s camera kept rolling, capturing the image of the suspect pointing the gun. WDBJ quickly switched to the anchor back at the station, clearly shocked, who told viewers, “OK, not sure what happened there.”

Parker and Ward died at the scene. Their interview subject, Vicki Gardner, also was shot, but emerged from surgery later Wednesday in stable condition.

Flanagan, 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.”

“Eventually after many incidents of his anger coming to the fore, we dismissed him. He did not take that well,” Marks said. He recalled that police had to escort Flanagan out of the building because he refused to leave when he was fired.

Tweets posted Wednesday on the gunman’s Twitter account — since suspended — described workplace conflicts with both victims. He said he filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Parker, and that Ward had reported him to human resources.

Marks said Flanagan alleged that other employees made racially tinged comments to him, but that his EEOC claim was dismissed and none of his allegations could be corroborated.

“We think they were fabricated,” the station manager said.

Dan Dennison, now a state government spokesman in Hawaii, was the WDBJ news director who hired Flanagan in 2012 and fired him in 2013, largely for performance issues, he said.

“We did a thorough investigation and could find no evidence that anyone had racially discriminated against this man,” Dennison said. “You just never know when you’re going to work how a potentially unhinged or unsettled person might impact your life in such a tragic way.”

Court records and recollections from former colleagues at a half-dozen other small-market stations where he bounced around indicate that Flanagan was quick to file complaints. He was fired at least twice after managers said he was causing problems with other employees.

Both Parker and Ward grew up in the Roanoke area, attended high school there and later interned at the station. After Parker’s internship, she moved to a smaller market in Jacksonville, North Carolina, before returning to WBDJ. She was dating Chris Hurst, an anchor at the station and had just moved in with him.

“We were together almost nine months,” Hurst posted on Facebook. “It was the best nine months of our lives. We wanted to get married. We just celebrated her 24th birthday. She was the most radiant woman I ever met.”

Ward, who played high school football, was a devoted fan of his alma mater, Virginia Tech. His colleagues said he rarely, if ever, missed a game. They called him a “happy-go-lucky guy” — even during the early morning hours that are the proving ground for so many beginning journalists.

Ward’s fiancee, station producer Melissa Ott, was in the control room when the shots rang out, marking her last day on the job. He had planned to follow her to her new job in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Marks helped lead the live coverage Wednesday after the station confirmed its two employees were dead. He said he and his staff covered the story despite their grief, to honor their slain colleagues.

“Our hearts are broken,” he said. “Our sympathy goes to the entire staff here, but also the parents and family of Alison Parker and Adam Ward, who were just out doing their job today.”

Victims remembered

They were two young journalists, eager and hungry for a story, fulfilling their dreams of working in TV news.

Reporter Alison Parker, 24, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27, grew up in the Roanoke, Virginia, area and started their television careers there, becoming local celebrities in the process and finding love along the way.

On Wednesday, the two were following their passion when they were gunned down by a disgruntled former reporter they once worked with at WDBJ. The shots rang out in the middle of a live story about the 50th anniversary of a reservoir known as Smith Mountain Lake. The attack was captured on Ward’s camera.

In their work, the broadcasters were “full of smiles and full of exuberance,” said Jeffrey Marks, general manager of the Roanoke station.

The pair worked as a team for the station’s “Mornin'” show, a time slot where many broadcast journalists get their start. They covered everything from breaking news to feature stories about child abuse.

“She took on the morning live reporting job with great excitement and vigor,” Marks said. “Nobody could have done it better.”

Parker said in a promotional video for the station that the “most thrilling” thing she ever did was take a trip to the Grand Canyon with her family and ride horseback down the canyon. She enjoyed the arts, playing trumpet and French horn in high school. And she loved Mexican food.

“The spicier, the better,” she said in the video.

Ward, who played high school football, was a devoted fan of his alma mater, Virginia Tech. He rarely, if ever, missed a game, and was a “happy-go-lucky guy” — even during the early morning hours.

“He was the kind of guy you wanted to be around, especially at three in the morning,” said Jay Webb, a former meteorologist at WDBJ.

Robert Denton, head of the communications department at Virginia Tech, said he handed Ward his diploma when he graduated from the Blacksburg school in 2011.

“He was quite a talker, and he loved sports and politics,” Denton said. “You could not be around him and not have a wonderful conversation.”

Both Parker and Ward grew up in the Roanoke area, attended high school there and later interned at the station. After Parker’s internship, she moved to a smaller market in Jacksonville, North Carolina, before returning to WDBJ.

Their television jobs made them stars in the community.

One of their more playful morning-show stories was about a local theater production of “Cinderella.” Parker, dressed in costume, can hardly control her laughter as she invites Ward out from behind the camera. He appears in high heels and a dress as the “wicked stepmother” to both their delight.

Both of them also found love at the station. Ward was engaged to producer Melissa Ott, who watched the shooting unfold live from the control room. Her last day was supposed to be Wednesday because she had accepted a new job in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Parker was dating an anchor and had just moved in with him. Her boyfriend, Chris Hurst, posted several messages on Twitter and Facebook.

“She was the most radiant woman I ever met,” Hurst wrote. “And for some reason, she loved me back. She loved her family, her parents and her brother.”

Recently, Parker had tackled a tough story on child abuse. But she also had a less serious side: Her Facebook feed was punctuated with funny videos and photos of her smiling, ear-to-ear, often while on assignment with Ward.

Her father, Andy Parker, said the family is devastated.

“I go from shock and just not believing to realizing that it happened and just crying my eyes out,” he said in an interview at his home in Collinsville, Virginia.

He was proud of his daughter’s journalistic ethics, recalling that police in Jacksonville would give her scoops because she showed herself to be trustworthy about not breaking embargos or reporting off-the-record conversations.

He said she graduated from James Madison University in 31/2 years and had wide interests ranging from whitewater kayaking to ballet.

“She excelled at everything she did,” he said.

Remembering her skills in English and spelling, he said classmates called her the “grammar queen” because she would always correct people’s grammar.

Parker said Flanagan got fired before his daughter started at the station full time and that she never mentioned having any problems with him.

He said he’s not against gun ownership in general, but he supports tougher background checks and now plans to start advocating for them.

“I can’t bring her back,” he said. “But I have to do something.”

Associated Press