"Also, I was influenced by Seung–Hui Cho. He also reportedly made references to Virginia Tech killer Seung Hui Cho and Columbine High School shooters Eric Harris and Dylann Klebold. 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," he wrote in the faxes, according to ABC. "Why did I do it? I put down a deposit for a gun on 6/19/15. The network later reported the faxes contained references to a number of infamous mass shootings, including the murders of nine black parishioners in Charleston in June. ABC said it had turned the document over to authorities. "He's someone who came to mind instantly," Marks told CBS when asked about when he first heard a former employee was the suspect.ĪBC News reported that between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning it had received 23 pages via fax from a man claiming to be Bryce Williams. Sincerely, The Family of Vester Flanaganįlanagan had previously filed a lawsuit and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint against the station, according to court records and Marks. Our family is asking that the media respect our privacy. Words cannot express the hurt that we feel for the victims. Our thoughts and prayers at this time are with the victims' families and the WBDJ7 NEWS family. We are also praying for the recovery of Vicki Gardner. In a statement to WDBJ7 on Wednesday, Flanagan's family expressed their "deepest condolences" to friends and family:ĭear News WDBJ7, It is with heavy hearts and deep sadness that we express our deepest condolences to the families of Alison Parker and Adam Ward. He died about 1:30 p.m., authorities said. When troopers approached they saw Flanagan had a gunshot wound. About two minutes later, the car ran off the road into a median. She followed him and turned on her lights when backup arrived on the road, authorities said.įlanagan allegedly refused to stop, and sped away, authorities said.
#Virginia cameraman shooting license#
The victim's colleagues then said he apparently tracked the news team to their location.Īfter the shooting Flanagan fled in the rental car, Overton said.įlanagan was tracked to I-81 and then I-66 East at before 11:30 a.m., Overton said.Īt that point a Virginia State Police trooper's license plate reader alerted her that Flanagan's car drove by. The shooter reportedly left his Mustang at the Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport, Overton said, and got in a Chevy Sonic that he rented earlier this month. Thomas Faison, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told BuzzFeed News Wednesday that investigators had recovered a Glock 19 pistol that belonged to Flanagan.įaison said the gun had been purchased "weeks ago," and that he had apparently passed a background check that is required for buying a gun.įlanagan also had a second gun, Faison added. We had to call police to escort him from the building." "He quickly gathered a reputation of someone who was difficult to work with.After many incidents of his anger, we dismissed him. Ward's live shot then cut to a stunned anchor in the WDBJ studio, who along with her colleagues began to report the news.įlanagan, 41, was at WDBJ between 20 as a multimedia journalist, WDBJ General Manager Jeff Marks said Wednesday. When he fell to the floor, he captured a blurry image of the shooter that was then widely distributed. When Ward was shot, his footage captured Parker's reaction. Overton added that Flanagan, who also went by Bryce Williams on television, was the only suspect. In two of his own videos of the incident that were posted – and later removed – on Twitter and Facebook, suspected gunman Vester Lee Flanagan II walked up to the three people and held the gun at them for several seconds before opening fire on the cameraman and then a shocked Parker.įlanagan "appeared and approached them and started shooting," Overton said.