Closing summary
Here is a catch-up of what we know so far about the shooting in Roanoke, Virginia:
- Tributes have been paid to two journalists who were shot dead live on air on Wednesday morning. The president of the WDBJ7 news channel, Jeffrey Marks, said:
This is the worst day of my career. Worst day of all our careers. We’ve lost beloved colleagues.
- The family of Alison Parker, 24, the reporter who was killed, described her as
our bright, shining light … cruelly extinguished by yet another crazy person with a gun.
- The second victim, cameraman Adam Ward, 27, was described as a “fine photojournalist” with an infectious smile. His fiancée, Melissa Ott, who worked as a producer in the WDBJ7 newsroom, was at work on Wednesday morning and saw the shooting unfold live on screen.
- A third victim, who survived the shooting, underwent emergency surgery after a bullet hit her in the back. Vicki Gardner is reported to be in stable condition in hospital.
- The gunman, identified as Vester Lee Flanagan, later died after shooting himself. Flanagan, a former news reporter who was known on-air as Bryce Williams, had been fired by WDBJ7 in 2013 and unsuccessfully tried to sue the station. Court papers seen by the Guardian claimed he had a history of aggressive behaviour at work.
- Relatives of Flanagan expressed their “deep sadness”, in a statement that made no reference to the killer:
Our thoughts and prayers at this time are with the victims’ families and the WBDJ7 news family.
- In tweets sent after the shooting, Flanagan accused Ward of having made a complaint against him and Parker of making racist comments, an allegation Marks dismissed as “just not believable”.
- Flanagan bought two handguns legally in July this year from a gun store in Roanoke.
- President Barack Obama said the shooting highlighted once again the need to address the issue of gun control:
It breaks my heart every time you read or hear about these kinds of incidents … [It is] one more argument for why we need to look at how we can reduce gun violence.
- Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she wished the incident would be “what it will hopefully finally take for us to act”.
- But Republican presidential candidates hit back, with Ben Carson saying “People are the problem, not so much guns”. Rival, and former Virginia governor, Jim Gilmore went further, saying:
Politicians were wrong today to go out there and begin to do the same old song about gun control when that is not the issue.
It’s infuriating because it’s diverting us away from what we can do to solve this problem and that is to identify people who are unstable.
- There has been criticism of the decision by some media – in the US and the UK – to publish videos and images of the shooting, including from a film made by the gunman and posted to Facebook by him. WDBJ7 said it would not run the broadcast clip of the shooting again.
This live blog is closing now. Click below to follow the latest updates:
Updated
The Guardian’s Matthew Teague is in Roanoke, from where he sends this dispatch:
Outside WDBJ7’s studio, people left flowers, balloons, and trinkets in a makeshift memorial for the victims. When Vester Flanagan shot through the barrier that separates news and consumers, it ruptured in both directions. The killings turned regular people into broadcasters, but it also made broadcasters into regular people.
“They were there every morning with me,” said Pamela Cook, a longtime WDBJ7 viewer. She wept openly, in the studio parking lot. “Maybe I didn’t know them super well, but they were like part of my family. They were like real people.”
The station’s reporters and cameramen wandered through the crowd in their parking lot, interviewing other journalists, being interviewed themselves.
Gil Harrington laid flowers on the memorial. “I knew all three” news people, she said – the victims and the shooter. Her daughter was murdered at a Metallica concert a few years ago, she said, and in the aftermath she became friendly with WDBJ7’s reporters.
“I really just want to support our journalistic community right now. I know they’re walking around with their skin turned inside out.”
As I reported earlier, before Wednesday, 39 journalists had been killed in the course of their work so far in 2015. This graphic shows how that compares with previous years:
It has emerged that Flanagan purchased two handguns, reported to be Glock pistols, legally in Virginia.
Officials have not identified when and where the guns were bought, but CBS reports that it was from a gun store in Roanoke on 10 July.
It’s also not clear whether both guns were used in Wednesday’s attack.
Reporters Without Borders, which campaigns among other issues on journalist safety, says Wednesday’s killings were the first in the US to involve journalists doing their job since 2007.
In that year, Chauncey Bailey was murdered in connection with a story he was investigating.
Christophe Deloire, secretary general of Reporters Without Borders, said on Wednesday:
The murder of two journalists, Alison Parker and Adam Ward, on live television in Virginia is an unprecedented tragedy, even in a country where thousands of people are killed each year by firearms.
Delphine Halgand, the organisation’s US director, said:
Even if this is not a case of journalists being targeted while reporting in war-torn countries or murdered because of their investigation on corruption or drug-trafficking, to kill two journalists on live television in cold blood demonstrates a certain willingness to dramatise the crime committed against them.
The group said it would investigate whether “their work as journalists was indeed a factor in this criminal act”.
According to the most recent annual report by the Committee to Protect Journalists, 60 journalists around the world were killed in the course of their work in 2014.
Prior to Wednesday, the CPJ said 39 journalists had been killed in connection with their work so far in 2015, including eight who were murdered at the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo in January.
Updated
Images are coming in now from vigils held tonight for Alison Parker and Adam Ward, who died in the attack, and for Vicki Gardner, who remains in hospital after emergency surgery:
Christina Cooke in Moneta has been talking to local residents, several of whom know Vicki Gardner, the third victim who is currently recovering in hospital after the shooting:
Steve Drake, a realtor with Lyons Team Realtors in downtown Moneta, has known Gardner since he moved to the area in 2001. Lyons Team is a member of the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce, of which Gardner is the executive director.
Drake was watching WDBJ7 news this morning as he was getting ready for work and saw the shooting happen live.
“I was watching it live, and I had to keep playing it back because I couldn’t believe what I had just seen. It was just incredible. The fact that [Gardner] didn’t join the rest of them – it was very lucky.
“I called my wife in and said, ‘I can’t believe what’s going on! It’s Vicki.’ At first she was worried about going into work – nobody knew where this guy was at, and it was very strange, because all you could see was that blue shirt and those black pants, which looked like about half a dozen uniforms of stores or a businesses, they looked very familiar.”
On questions of gun control that have been raised by the president and others, Drake said: “I’m ex-military, I believe in freedom of speech and having guns and all that stuff, but you have to have a little control.
“I think we’re in desperate need of it. We’re going a little crazy about not enforcing it the same all the way across all states, having a federal database. That’s not going to stop people from hunting. You don’t need a hollow-point bullet to kill a deer.”
Updated
The decision by some media to broadcast or print images from the video taken by the gunman and posted by him to Facebook has met a lot of criticism.
Several newspapers in the UK have led their Thursday front pages on pictures showing the killer pointing a gun at Parker, taken from the gunman’s own video or the live WDBJ footage. I won’t link to them here. The Guardian is not publishing either of the videos in any of its US or international editions.
If you think the front page is shocking - inside tomorrow's Sun are five more photos taken from the gunman's video
— Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) August 26, 2015
Around 40,000 WDBJ viewers saw the shooting unfold live on Wednesday morning. Station chief Jeffrey Marks said the news channel would not show the video again:
We are choosing not to run the video of that right now because, frankly, we don’t need to see it again. And our staff doesn’t need to see it again.
WDBJ news director Kelly Zuber said the station also did not intend to air the film taken by the gunman himself:
At this point we don’t. We’ll review that as we go. It’s pretty raw right now in our newsroom. And we will continue to process the journalism, and if that piece of video is important to what we do, we’ll include it.
But for right now, no. No.
And Ben Carson, a rather more serious Republican presidential candidate, has also distanced himself from talk of the need for gun control, although in less strident terms than Gilmore, saying of Wednesday’s shooting:
It makes me question what’s happening to us as people. People are the problem, not so much guns.
Anything we’re going to do has to be done with respect to the second amendment.
Jim Gilmore: 'The gun is not the issue'
Jim Gilmore, former governor of Virginia and a Republican presidential hopeful, has lambasted those calling for a revision of gun control laws after another shooting, insisting: “The gun is not the issue.”
Gilmore said:
We’re not going to let this madman take away the lawful rights of Americans to keep and bear arms. We’re going to stand up for the second amendment.
The time has come to turn our attention to mental health … We can’t divert attention away from this … by trying to go into gun control issues the way some politicians have today. I think that diverts us from the real solutions.
More gun controls are not going to solve this problem. We continue to talk about the wrong issue.
Gilmore rejected claims that current gun controls are insufficient:
If this man [Flanagan] bought these guns legally, he went through a background check …
The issue is that family members, community leaders, people that are out there working with people, need to be in a position to learn about what we can do regarding mental health to report dangerous people, to get them some treatment and under some supervision so that they don’t go off and do some tragedy like this.
If elected president, Gilmore says, he would focus on mental health, not gun laws:
I refuse to participate in the taking away of lawful rights under the second amendment for Americans to keep and bear arms.
Politicians were wrong today to go out there and begin to do the same old song about gun control when that is not the issue. It’s infuriating because it’s diverting us away from what we can do to solve this problem and that is to identify people who are unstable.
Updated
My colleague Megan Carpentier writes of America’s reaction to this and other mass shootings:
The blasé acceptance that, yes, you might well get shot some day is as much of a facet of American life in 2015 as it was in 2002. We are as desensitised now as we were were in 1993, when Colin McCarthy shot up a Long Island Railroad train car of commuters and in 1984, when James Huberty shot up a McDonalds in San Ysidro, California.
The shooting at the University of Albany, in upstate New York (1994) didn’t change anything.
Columbine (1999) didn’t change anything. The Lancaster, Pennsylvania Amish schoolhouse shooting (2006) didn’t change anything.
Nothing changed for Americans because our political leaders didn’t change anything. Instead, a nation ducked.
You can read the full column here:
Inevitably, many people who knew Vester Flanagan are coming forward to talk about him now. Much of this won’t need to be reported. But some can shine some light on why he might have acted as he did.
CNN has just interviewed Marie Mattox, an attorney who represented Flanagan in 2000 in a lawsuit against WTWC, the NBC affiliate in Tallahassee, Florida.
Flanagan told her that racist comments had been made to him at work, and that “retaliatory action” had been taken against him when he reported this.
The station denied all of Flanagan’s allegations and the case was settled out of court. Mattox said she could not reveal the details of the settlement. But she said of Flanagan’s claims:
They were serious enough that I undertook representation … I felt there was enough to go forward.
But she added that – regardless of whether or not his allegations were founded – she felt he ought to have had counselling after the case was resolved:
I was concerned about his mental status … A lot of folks identify themselves with their jobs.
He should have gotten some counselling.
I know this was very traumatic for him back 15 years ago … [but] I thought he would go on with his life.
Christina Cooke has been at the vigil for Ward and Parker in Moneta this evening and sends this report:
As the setting sun streamed through the stained glass windows, more than 50 people gathered inside Bethlehem United Methodist Church in Moneta to reflect and pray for the victims of the morning’s shooting.
Debbie Reardon attended the vigil to pay respects to the journalists and to honour Vicki Gardner and the Smith Mountain Lake area. She worked for a Fox News affiliate in the area for 10 years until last November and said she often ran into Adam Ward at events they were both covering.
“He always had a big smile on his face,” she said at the base of the church’s front steps. “He was a hustler. He loved covering the story, and he loved his job. He was a great guy.”
Though Reardon did not know Alison Parker personally, she was familiar with her on-screen work. She remembers Parker as having a fun personality and the makings of a great reporter.
“She was covering a snowstorm we had – out in the middle of it, like 8 degrees – and she still had that smile on her face,” Reardon said. “She did a great job with storytelling.”
William Pace, who works as a legislative assistant for Charles Poindexter, the 9th district delegate to the Virginia general assembly, attended the vigil to honour Gardner, with whom he came into contact frequently through work.
“There’s nobody better at advocating for Smith Mountain Lake,” Pace said. “This morning was supposed to be a typical interview – because next year is the 50th anniversary of Smith Mountain Lake – and it was nothing like that. I’m stunned, shocked and shaken like everyone else.”
Diana Miller, who also attended the vigil, moved to Moneta six months ago and knew Gardner through her volunteer work with the chamber of commerce.
Miller said she remembered taking the call from the WDBJ7 news station to set up the interview that took place on Wednesday morning. When she found out about the shooting from her neighbour, she said, “I was sobbing”.
Reardon expects healing to take a while for people in the area. “I went to bed last night safe and secure, with the knowledge that I live someplace that evil couldn’t touch,” she said. “And this morning at 6:45 or 7am, that illusion was shattered. It’s hard to digest.”
The family of Alison Parker has also released a statement about her death today – and her life. Andy Parker, her father, said:
Barbara, Drew and I are numb, devastated, and I find my grief unbearable.
Alison was our bright, shining light and it was cruelly extinguished by yet another crazy person with a gun.
She excelled at everything she did and was loved by everyone she touched. She loved us dearly and we talked to her every single day.
Not hearing her voice again crushes my soul.
Our family can only take solace in the fact that although her life was brief, she was so happy with it. She lived it to the fullest and her spirit was always be with us.
Relatives of killer Vester Flanagan have put out a statement expressing their “deep sadness”:
It is with heavy hearts and deep sadness that we express our deepest condolences to the families of Alison Parker and Adam Ward.
We are also praying for the recovery of Vicki Gardner.
Our thoughts and prayers at this time are with the victims’ families and the WBDJ7 NEWS family.
Words cannot express the hurt that we feel for the victims. Our family is asking that the media respect our privacy.
Sincerely,
The family of Vester Flanagan
WDBJ7 president and station manager Jeffrey Marks has just been talking to CNN.
Questioned on the gunman’s possible motives, Marks said:
I’m not spending a lot of time getting into the head of the killer.
But Marks did want to push back against claims reportedly tweeted by the gunman, in which he accused Alison Parker of making racist comments. He told CNN:
She was not a person given to picking fights … [or] to any racial or other harassment. It’s just not believable.
Marks said that, contrary to reports that Parker had never worked with her killer at the station, he believed they may have crossed paths when she worked as an intern there in 2012.
ATF: gun was purchased legally
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokesman Thomas Faison said Vester Lee Flanagan legally bought the gun he used to kill his former colleagues.
Faison did not say where or when Flanagan purchased the gun.
In his purported manifesto faxed to ABC News, Flanagan said he decided to buy a gun after the Charleston church massacre in June.
President Barack Obama has spoken about the events of today, saying the shooting “breaks my heart”.
In interviews from the White House on Wednesday, he told reporters:
It breaks my heart every time you read or hear about these kinds of incidents.
What we know is that the number of people who die from gun-related incidents around this country dwarfs any deaths that happen through terrorism.
[It is] one more argument for why we need to look at how we can reduce gun violence.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the president continued to call for “common sense” gun legislation:
I think the president has also been disappointed that our political system hasn’t responded in the way that he would like.
There are even some polls that indicate that there are clear majorities of gun owners that support some of these common-sense steps.
But yet, we haven’t seen Congress take this action. And that has been a source of significant frustration.
Obama has spoken frequently during the course of his presidency about his desire for tighter gun control.
This article, written in the aftermath of the Charleston shootings in which nine black churchgoers were killed in a racially motivated attack, sets out some of the reasons why such measures have not happened:
Hello, this is Claire Phipps taking over this live blog from my colleague Nicky Woolf.
Here is a brief summary of events as they stand now:
- Vigils are being held to remember Alison Parker and Adam Ward, the two journalists shot dead on Wednesday morning as they broadcast a live interview on the local WDBJ7 news station in Moneta, near Roanoke, Virginia.
- A third victim, Vicki Gardner, who was being interviewed as the shooting happened, is in hospital after emergency surgery and expected to recover.
- The gunman, identified as Vester Lee Flanagan, later died after shooting himself.
I’ll continue to bring you coverage as tributes are paid to the two victims.
Handing over now to my colleague Claire Phipps, as we go into an evening of vigils for the victims of the shooting.
The crowd gathers as the sun sets. #WDBJshooting #Vigil @WNEW pic.twitter.com/BmLX3v8Rwk
— Bill Rehkopf (@BillyRayWNEW) August 26, 2015
The Washington Nationals held a moment of silence this evening before their game against the San Diego Padres in honour of the victims of today’s shooting.
Moment of silence here at Nationals Park for Alison Parker and Adam Ward.
— Todd Dybas (@Todd_Dybas) August 26, 2015
Another Moment of Silence at @Nationals Park. All so very sad pic.twitter.com/WP3HbpJIUP
— Mark Strattner (@nats10mil) August 26, 2015
Memorial outside #WDBJ continues to grow. People continue to stop by to pay respects. pic.twitter.com/R9WEnZiWB3
— Amy Friedenberger (@AJFriedenberger) August 26, 2015
Matthew Teague just captured the bomb squad sweeping the shooter’s apartment:
Summary
- Tributes have poured in for two journalists for news network WDBJ7 shot dead during a live broadcast in Virginia, Alison Parker and Adam Ward
- A third victim, Vicki Gardner, is in hospital and expected to recover
- “This is the worst day of my career,” says WDBJ7 general manager
- Court documents show that the gunman had a history of “aggressive” behavior, ultimately leading to his firing in 2013.
- White House press secretary Josh Earnest said this was “another example of gun violence that is becoming all too common”
The gunman’s third victim, Vicki Gardner of the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce, is currently in Roanoke Memorial Hospital where she is recovering from emergency surgery.
She was being interviewed by Parker and Ward when the gunman opened fire, and was shot in the chest, but is expected to recover, WDBJ7 reports.
Matt Chittum at the Roanoke Times reports that photojournalist Adam Ward was a “no excuses” guy.
Shortish and stout, Ward was an ex-athlete whose face defaulted to a smile. He thrived with a deep work ethic and sheer joy for life.
His earnest nature gave him passport into the lives of everyone he met, friends and colleagues say.
“He kind of made you feel like the world wasn’t such a bad place,” said Nick Beaty, who went to high school with Ward and later worked with him at WDBJ. “When the important moments were happening, you wanted to be around that guy, because you knew it would be an extra good time.”
You can read the whole profile here.
Alison Parker’s family have started a memorial fund at her alma mater, James Madison University. “In answer to inquiries from family and friends as to how they could honor Alison, the Parker family thought of JMU,” the university’s alumni association said in a statement on its Facebook page, continuing:
Alison earned her bachelor’s degree in media arts and design, was a reporter and editor for The Breeze, was a beloved member of Alpha Phi sorority and is being remembered for her bright personality, dedication to community service and love of JMU.
My colleague Lanre Bakare reports that tonight’s season finale of USA Network’s Mr Robot has been delayed because it contained scenes similar to today’s shooting in Virginia.
In a statement, USA Networks said:
The previously filmed season finale of Mr Robot contains a graphic scene similar in nature to today’s tragic events in Virginia.”
“Out of respect to the victims, their families and colleagues, and our viewers, we are postponing tonight’s episode. Our thoughts go out to all those affected during this difficult time.”
You can read the full story here.
Guardian contributor Matthew Teague spoke to Roanoke resident Gil Harrington, who was laying flowers outside the offices of WDBJ7.
She said she knew all three TV employees - victims and shooter - because her daughter was murdered a few years ago at a Metallica concert and in the aftermath she became friendly with the reporters.
She said, “I knew all three. I really just want to support our journalistic community right now. I know they’re walking around with their skin turned inside out.”
The crew at local team the Salem Red Sox’ baseball ground have painted a white number 7 and a ribbon on the field for their game tonight, in honor of the victims of today’s horrific shooting.
“You never think anything like this is going to happen, especially this close to home,” the team’s general manager Ryan Shelton says on the network’s 5PM live news broadcast. “But the world is a crazy place.”
“She was a star,” says Robin Reed, chief meteorologist at WDBJ7, of Parker. “She lit up the screen.”
This was Ward’s last day at WDBJ7, the network reports, during a moving broadcast tribute to their colleagues. He was going to start a new job in Charlotte.
Updated
Jeff Marks, the general manager of WDBJ, just spoke with Guardian contributor Matthew Teague.
“This is the worst day of my career,” Marks said. “Worst day of all our careers. We’ve lost beloved colleague[s],” he said.
On the youth of the victims, as opposed to the decision-makers at the TV station, he said:
“Why was I not targeted? Why was Kelly [Zuber, the news director] not targeted? We are the ones who actually put this guy out of a job.”
WDBJ7 is live with their 5PM newscast.
“An unimaginable day - two of our coworkers killed reporting the news,” the anchor, Jean Jadhon, says.
“This is a hard day for all of us here at WDBJ,” her co-anchor, Melissa Gaona says. “We are mourning Alison and Adam - but we will find out all the facts.”
You can watch the live-stream here.
There is a press conference currently going on at the WDBJ news station. Sara Gregory, of the Roanoke Times, is on the scene.
.@WDBJ7 GM Jeff Marks talking now. "I cannot think of better employees of I could have designed them myself." pic.twitter.com/FcOF6TzbLg
— Sara Gregory (@saragregory) August 26, 2015
Counsellors and volunteer chaplains have been on hand at the station all day, @WDBJ7 news director Kelly Zuber says.
— Sara Gregory (@saragregory) August 26, 2015
"Many people in the newsroom had issues from time to time" with Flanagan, Zuber says.
— Sara Gregory (@saragregory) August 26, 2015
Nicky Woolf here, taking over from Alan Yuhas on the Guardian’s live coverage of the murder of two journalists in Virginia, Alison Parker, 24, and Adam Ward, 27, by a former colleague.
People have been leaving flowers and balloons, and sending messages of support for WDBJ7, the Virginia news station where Parker and Ward worked.
From the bottom of our hearts thank you all so much for the calls, flowers, emails, and messages of love and support. pic.twitter.com/a34rVH7QES
— WDBJ7 (@WDBJ7) August 26, 2015
- A reporter and cameraman for a local Virginia news crew were shot dead during a early morning live broadcast in Moneta, with the shooting partially caught on camera. A third victim, interviewee Vicki Gardner, is in stable condition.
-
A gunman, identified by police as Vester Lee Flanagan, was a 41-year-old former employee of the news station, WDBJ7. At about 11.30am ET, police tracked Flanagan down on a highway, where he refused to stop his car and crashed off the road. He died in the hospital from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at about 1.30pm, sheriff Bill Overton said.
-
Through tears and shock, stations staffers remembered Parker and Ward as buoyant, exuberant colleagues who were beloved at work. Parker had recently celebrated her 24th birthday and moved in with her boyfriend, a fellow reporter who described her as “the most radiant woman I have ever met”. Ward, 27, was described as a playful friend looking forward to marrying his fiancee, a producer who had recently celebrated her last day at the station.
- Court documents show that Flanagan had a history of misconduct and “aggressive” behavior at the station, ultimately leading to his firing in 2013. WDBJ7 general manager Jeff Marks described Flanagan as “an unhappy man”, prone to anger and outbursts, and Flanagan blamed “a conspiracy” and “racial harassment” for his firing.
- Videos posted to social media accounts of Bryce Williams, the name under which Flanagan reported for several news agencies, showed graphic footage of the shootings. The videos were accompanied by statements accusing Parker of “racist comments” and Ward of reporting Williams to human resources.
- White House press secretary Josh Earnest called the shooting “another example of gun violence that is becoming all too common”. Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe, former representative Gabrielle Giffords, and other gun control proponents called for new gun laws such as expanded background checks. “There are certain people who should not be entitled to a firearm,” McAuliffe said.
Seeking compensation through the courts, Flanagan insisted that his coworkers treated him with “racial harassment” involving a watermelon. In May 2014 he personally aired complaints in a letter to the judge, Francis Burkart III, who was hearing his case.
“The watermelon would appear, then disappear, then appear and disappear again … only to appear yet again. This was not an innocent incident. The watermelon was placed in a strategic location where it would be visible to newsroom employees (and others) entering and exiting the building. It appeared after a meeting during which ‘watermelon’ comments were discussed.”
He says the watermelon was part of “a carefully orchestrated effort by the photography staff to oust me – a conspiracy.”
Flanagan blames the chief photographer and others for his termination, saying that they reported him for misbehavior. “Why did one of the photographers go to HR on me after working with me ONLY ONCE. There was nothing to report! That, your honor, is just plain wrong.
“All of this is just the tip of the iceberg. There is so, so, so much more to this case that will come out during the trial.”
Elsewhere he requested “a trial which will be heard by a jury of my peers. I would like my jury to be comprised of African-American women.”
Updated
On the day he was fired from WDBJ7, Flanagan threatened supervisors that there would be “negative consequences” and that he would “make a stink and it’s going to be in the headlines”, according to court documents.
The document refers to Flanagan by his working name, Bryce Williams.
Told that police would escort him off the property, “Bryce said ‘Take your hands off me. Leave me alone.’ Some other members of the staff were on the periphery of the newsroom observing and recording video. The officers continued to tell Bryce he needed to leave. Bryce tossed a hat and small wooden cross at Dan and said ‘You need this.’
He told one of the officers ‘You know what they did? They had a watermelon back there for a week and basically called me a n—.”
Another document reporting events from February 2013 says that Flanagan’s reaction to hearing he would be fired was to say “that firing him would lead to negative consequences for me personally and for the station,” a supervisor wrote. He also said “I’m not leaving, you’re going to have to call the f###ing police. Call the police, I’m not leaving. I’m going to make a stink and it’s going to be in the headlines,” another boss wrote.
The station then kept an off-duty police officer to guard the premises for the following two days.
Court documents show 'threatening' history at work
Flanagan had a long history of behavioral issues, court documents recovered by my colleagues Jon Swaine and Lauren Gambino show.
Documents from a 2014 lawsuit filed by Flanagan against WDBJ7 seeking compensation for “unpaid overtime” and “racial harassment” – a lawsuit ultimately dismissed – say that Flanagan lost his temper at coworkers, behaved inappropriately during reports and made people feel threatened.
One such May 2012 document, from supervisor Dan Dennison to Flanagan in response the latter’s complaints, is titled “behavior and professionalism”.
“On three separate occasions in the past month and a half,” Dennison wrote, “you have behaved in a manner that has resulted in one of your co-workers feeling threatened or uncomfortable.”
Dennison then relates how Flanagan made coworkers feel “both threatened and extremely uncomfortable” after confronting another reporter, interrupted an interview repeatedly and acted in an “unprofessional” manner, and then “stormed off in anger” after criticizing a photographer’s work.
Another memo from Dennison informs Flanagan: “You must make improvements [in behavior] immediately or you will face termination of employment.”
“It seems that you are taking the actions of many of the photographers quite personally and misinterpreting their actions or words,” he continues.
“Under no circumstances should you engage in harsh language, demonstrate aggressive body language, or lash out at a photographer in front of members of the public.”
On another court document, an August 2012 performance review at WDBJ7, Flanagan’s respect toward colleagues is rated as “unacceptable” by a supervisor.
Updated
Democratic candidate for president Hillary Clinton has called for more gun control laws, so “that maybe we could prevent this kind of carnage”.
She told reporters that “whether he was fired or for domestic abuse”, no reason justified the gun violence committed by the shooter.
“So I hope that in addition to expressing sympathy for those directly affected, that this - maybe for the media, public, elected officials, for every American – what it will hopefully finally take for us to act”.
Updated
“To me it all feels surreal,” Erin Arnold, the daughter of the surviving shooting victim Vicki Gardner, has told Matt Teague, reporting for the Guardian from Virginia.
Arnold flew toward Roanoke from St Augustine, Florida, after getting a call from her father from Roanoke, he reports. “He’s stoic. He never gets hysterical. But to me it all still feels surreal,” Arnold said.
Gardner “lost a kidney and part of her large intestine,” her daughter said. “I’m just grateful she’s alive.
“She’s 60 years old and still wakeboards. She still climbs up and paints the lighthouse. She’s incredible.”
As for guns, and whether the shooter should have been allowed to purchase one, Arnold only shook her head: “Hindsight is 20/20, I guess.”
On the shooter, Vester Lee Flanagan II, she said: “God rest his soul.”
Updated
“The last thing she said to me was ‘goodnight, sweet boy,’” remembers Chris Hurst, Alison Parker’s boyfriend and a fellow reporter at WDBJ7.
Hurst is telling reporters about Parker, saying that their nine-month relationship were the best months of his life. “She would want our love to be shared.”
“She would make you feel very important when she would talk to you,” he says. “I was lucky enough to call her my girlfriend. And we wanted to call each other husband and wife.
He adds that Adam Ward, the cameraman also killed by Flanagan, “was the most joyful man I’ve ever met”.
I am comforted by everyone at @WDBJ7. We are a family. She worked with Adam every day. They were a team. I am heartbroken for his fiancee.
— Chris Hurst (@chrishurstwdbj) August 26, 2015
Fax from man claiming to be suspect – report
As sheriff Bill Overton noted, someone claiming to be Vester Lee Flanagan II, aka Bryce Williams, sent a fax to a news organization. My colleague Jon Swaine reports on the fax sent to ABC News.
The text of the 23-page fax claims the shootings were part of what the sender called a “race war”, according to the network, which said someone claiming to be Flanagan also called them on the telephone.
The document claimed the attack was intended as revenge for the June massacre by a white supremacist of nine African Americans in a church in Charleston, South Carolina, according to ABC.
“What sent me over the top was the church shooting,” he reportedly wrote, adding that he had paid a deposit for a gun two days after the church shootings.
Flanagan referred by name to Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old man who has been charged with the murders of those killed during the prayer group meeting. One section of the document was reportedly headed “Suicide Note for Friends and Family”. ABC News said it had passed the material on to the authorities.
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A few speakers now relate the condition of Vicki Gardner, the third victim and executive director of the regional chamber of commerce. She has had surgery and is in stable condition, a hospital spokesperson says.
Troy Keaton, chairman the chamber of commerce, pledges support for his colleague: “As Vicki has been a champion for us for more than a decade, we’re going to be a champion for this.”
With that the press conference concludes.
He finishes by saying that the case is being treated as a criminal homicide investigation, and adds, emotionally, that he was shocked and had met the journalists before.
It was extremely difficult this morning. I actually did a remote with Ms Parker and Adam when schools opened about three weeks ago.
It really stopped me in my tracks this morning; like many viewers I was watching this morning’s broadcast and couldn’t understand really what was happening.
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Overton says that at the scene, they were “able to develop Mr Flanagan as a potential suspect” with the evidence at hand.
He says he cannot confirm that Flanagan himself posted the graphic videos of the killings to social media. He says:
I’m not even sure that the individuals who were shot and killed even knew he was there before the incident happened.
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Overton says he is wary about ascribing a motive, noting that Flanagan was a former employee of WDBJ7, the station where the two journalists he killed also worked.
He says that the evidence so far suggests “this gentleman was disturbed in some way at the way things had transpired in his life” and that “it appears that things had spiraled out of control”.
From what he has seen, Overton says, it “certainly goes to show where the gentleman’s mind, there was some forethought there given to the chain of events that would happen.”
Garletts says that license plate reader technology helped identify Flanagan’s car.
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State police spokseman Rick Garletts says that a state police officer saw Flanagan’s vehicle on Interstate 66 and followed him until back-up arrived.
Once it did, he says the police officer tried to stop Flanagan, who then sped off and crashed.
The officer then “found Flanagan suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound”, Garletts said.
Flanagan was flown to the Fairfax hospital and died at around 1.30pm, he says.
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Flanagan “sent a lengthy multi-page fax to a news organization in New York about the incident,” Overton adds, appearing to confirm reports that a fax had been sent to ABC news by a man claiming to be Flanagan.
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Flanagan fled the plaza before deputies arrived, Overton says.
Before 11am, deputies found Flanagan’s Ford Mustang at a regional airport.
Flanagan then left the airport in a Chevrolet Sonic that he had rented earlier in the month.
Overton says that Virginia state police and public tips helped track the vehicle as it traveled on Interstate 66.
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Overton praises the police effort and the tips and information from the public over the past seven hours.
He lists all the authorities involved, ranging from Franklin, Bedford and Augusta counties to the FBI. He says:
At 6.43am today the sheriff’s office received a 911 call reporting shots fired at the Bridgewater Plaza at Smith Mountain Lake.
He says the news crew was filming “when Vester Lee Flanagan II of Roanoke approached them and began shooting”.
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Police press conference: suspect dead
Sheriff Bill Overton begins the press conference, saying he has “a sorrowful heart”. He reports that the suspect is dead.
First and foremost at approximately 1.30pm today, the suspect from this incident, this shooting, died at Fairfax [hospital] as the result of a self-inflicted gunshot injury.
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The Associated Press is reporting that the suspect in the shooting is dead, citing an unnamed official. The Guardian cannot independently confirm this. The Virginia police press conference is expected shortly.
BREAKING: Official: Suspect in shooting of reporter, cameraman during live broadcast dies at hospital.
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 26, 2015
Franklin County sheriff Bill Overton is due to appear in 10-15 minutes for a press conference with the Virginia state police, a police spokesman has just told reporters.
The police are expected to give an update on the third victim’s condition, the suspect’s condition and the timeline of the shooting, search and arrest.
“We cannot rest until we have done whatever it takes to rid our society of preventable gun violence that results in tragedies like the one we are enduring today,” Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe has said in a full statement on this morning’s shooting.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims’ families, the WDBJ staff and the entire community that is mourning this awful loss. We stand ready to offer whatever resources or assistance we can in the wake of this horrific incident. We also continue to pray for the safe recovery of Vicki Gardner, who was wounded in this terrible incident.
Flowers continue to arrive for @WDBJ7, Alison Parker and Adam Ward. @roanoketimes pic.twitter.com/uSA5sF4cWg
— Erica Yoon (@ericayoon) August 26, 2015
McAuliffe goes on: “as we reflect with heavy hearts on this tragedy, it is appropriate to begin to ask questions about how we can prevent these senseless events in the fuure. Keeping guns out of the hands of people who would use them to harm our family, friends and loved ones is not a political issue; it is a matter of ensuring that more people can come home safely at the end of the day.”
Summary
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A gunman opened fire on a local TV news crew during a live broadcast in Moneta, Virginia, killing reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward. The shooting was partially caught on camera, providing police with a photograph of the suspect. A third victim, interviewee Vicki Gardner, is in stable condition.
- Police named the suspect as Vester Lee Flanagan, a 41-year-old former employee of the news station, WDBJ7. Officers tracked Flanagan down to the side of a highway, where he crashed his car and police took him into custody. He has been taken to a hospital for “life-threatening injuries” from a gunshot wound.
- Through tears and shock, stations staffers remembered Parker and Ward as buoyant, exuberant colleagues who were beloved at work. Parker had recently celebrated her 24th birthday and moved in with her boyfriend, a fellow reporter who described her as “the most radiant woman I have ever met”. Ward, 27, was described as a playful friend looking forward to marrying his fiancee, a producer who had recently celebrated her last day at the station.
- WDBJ7 general manager Jeff Marks described Flanagan as “an unhappy man”, prone to anger and outbursts, who had a troubled history with the station. He left the station in 2013 and later accused its staff of racism.
- Videos posted to social media accounts of Bryce Williams, the name under which Flanagan reported for several news agencies, showed graphic footage of the shootings. The videos were accompanied by statements accusing Parker of “racist comments” and Ward of reporting Williams to human resources.
- White House press secretary Josh Earnest called the shooting “another example of gun violence that is becoming all too common”. Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe, former representative Gabrielle Giffords, and other gun control proponents called for new gun laws such as expanded background checks. “There are certain people who should not be entitled to a firearm,” McAuliffe said.
Updated
“They were loved, they were positive people, they never shied away from an assignment,” station manager Jeff Marks said of Alison Parks and Adam Ward, his colleagues shot dead this morning at Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia.
Franklin County and Virginia state police have postponed the press conference about this morning’s shooting and arrest to 2pm ET. You will be able to watch it below.
Meanwhile the Roanoke police department has posted a statement about Alison Parker and Adam Ward, with whom its officers frequently worked.
Alison and Adam were both held in high regard by officers for their hard work and professionalism. Alison was always very kindhearted to the officers she interviewed and had the ability to tell a great story. Adam always put our officers, who might have been a little nervous when being interviewed, at ease with his kind words and warm smile. They were a team and we enjoyed working together with them on several stories as a team. They will be missed.
Updated
The White House has called the Virginia shooting “another example of gun violence that is becoming all too common in communities large and small all across the United States.”
Press secretary Josh Earnest said:
Obviously the thoughts and prayers of everybody here at the White House are with the families of those who were injured and killed. The precise details of threat incident continue to be under investigation.
And while there is no piece of legislation that will end all violence, there are some common sense things that only Congress can do that we know will have a tangible impact on reducing gun violence in this country.
Congress could take those steps in a way that would not infringe on the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans. And the president has long advocated the president taking those steps, and the president continues to believe that they should do so.
Updated
Several prominent proponents of gun control measures, including former congressperson Gabrielle Giffords, have released statements about the shooting.
“We are horrified to learn that two young journalists were murdered this morning doing the jobs they loved,” wrote Giffords and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly. “Our country has a gun violence problem, and shootings like these are far too common in our country. Many times, they happen behind close doors, in homes and schools and movie theaters.
“But this time, the horror unfolded live and on air, for all to see. Our thoughts and prayers are with those whose loved ones were taken from them this morning, with their colleagues at WDBJ7 in Roanoke, and with all Virginians as they mourn this shocking loss.”
Dan Gross, president of the long-running Brady Campaign, said: “We want you to know that all of us at Brady will not rest until senseless tragedies like this no longer happen.”
“So often we hear and see stories about gun violence in America, but today Americans watched in horror as it played out on live television. While there are still a lot of questions to be answered about this tragedy – the fact remains that 89 people die every day from gun violence – often at the hands of people who have no legal business owning firearms in the first place.”
Gross endorsed expanded background checks for all gun sales and closing certain gun dealers.
Updated
A map of the location of the suspect - presumed to be Flanagan - when taken into custody relative to the scene of the shooting at Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia.
Updated
Police: suspect wounded and in custody
A suspect is being treated for “life-threatening injuries” from a gunshot wound, Virginia state police have said, describing the confrontation with the suspect in a post on Facebook.
Shortly before 11.30am., Virginia State Police spotted the suspect vehicle headed eastbound on Interstate 66. With emergency lights activated the Virginia State Police trooper initiated a traffic stop on the suspect vehicle.
The suspect vehicle refused to stop and sped away from the trooper. Minutes later, the suspect vehicle ran off the road and crashed. The troopers approached the vehicle and found the male driver suffering from a gunshot wound.
He is being transported to a nearby hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries.
The male driver is believed to be the same male subject who shot three people this morning in Franklin County during a television news interview.
Updated
Flanagan has sued news station over alleged racism before, my colleague Jon Swaine reports, drawing on court documents from more than a decade ago.
In 2000 Flanagan sued WTWC, the NBC affiliate in Tallahassee, Florida, alleging he was sued after objecting to racism he encountered after joining the station the year before. He sought more than $75,000 in damages.
The lawsuit made several wild claims, including that in the summer of 1999 he was called a “monkey” by a producer and learned other black employees had been called the same.
Flanagan alleged that later that year a white employee told him it “busted her butt that blacks did not take advantage of the free money” available in scholarships to African Americans attending college.
He further alleged that a black criminal suspect was referred to as “just another thug” and that a black tape operator was told to “stop talking ebonics”. The lawsuit reached federal court in Florida. According to public records it was settled out of court in 2001.
Suspect Vester Lee Flanagan is in “very critical condition”, local news station WDBJ7 has reported, citing state police.
Their report contradicts others from Reuters and other local news reports that he had killed himself.
Police and ambulances have gathered en masse off of Interstate 66 in Fauquier County, reportedly near Flanagan’s car.
Updated
WDBJ7 station manager Jeff Marks has described Flanagan as “an unhappy man”.
“Vester was an unhappy man. We employed him as a reporter, and he had some talent in that respect and some experience, although he’d been out of the business for a while.”
“He quickly gathered a reputation as someone who was difficult to work with,” Marks continued, saying that he would quickly “take offense”.
“Eventually after many incidents of his anger coming to the fore, we dismissed him. And he did not take that well, we had to call the police to escort him from the building.
“Since then, well, he then filed an action with the Equal Opportunity Employment Committee in which he made all kinds of complaints” about the staff. Flanagan alleged that the staff had made “racial comments”, Marks said, but “none of them could be corroborated by anyone, we think they were fabricated.”
The complaint was dismissed, and although employees continued to occasionally see Flanagan “at the grocery store or something”, interaction was limited and rare, Marks said.
He added that Vicki Gardner, the third gunshot victim, has had emergency surgery and is in stable condition.
Updated
Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton has posted a call for action to stop gun violence in the wake of the shooting.
Heartbroken and angry. We must act to stop gun violence, and we cannot wait any longer. Praying for the victims' families in Virginia. -H
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 26, 2015
Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe has called for a tightening of gun laws.
“There are too many guns in the hands of people that shouldn’t have guns,” the Democratic governor told WTOP. “There is too much gun violence in America.”
He said he had advocated for strengthening background checks for those buying guns for a long time
These are the tweets on the “Bryce Williams” account alleging “racist comments” made by Parker and that Ward complained to human resources:
Updated
Reuters is reporting that the suspect has shot himself, citing a local ABC affiliate as its source. The Guardian cannot independently confirm this.
BREAKING NEWS: Alleged shooter of two Virginia journalists has shot himself: local ABC affiliate Twitter account
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) August 26, 2015
Updated
Flanagan had a troubled history with WDBJ and sued them in 2014, alleging discrimination, the Roanoke Times reports.
He was hired at the station in the spring of 2012 after working at stations in San Francisco and in Florida, North Carolina, Texas and Georgia. WDBJ let him go in February 2013.
In May 2014, Flanagan filed suit against the station in Roanoke General District Court, seeking money he felt he was owed and additional damages. His suit alleged discrimination by the station and named most of the WDBJ staff in his complaint, but in July 2014, the case was dismissed by a judge.
Over the past week, a Facebook page in the name “Bryce Williams” was updated to include silent video recordings of stories Flanagan worked on as Bryce Williams. One of the clips showed Flanagan in a gun store, holding a weapon.
Twitter has suspended the account running under the name Bryce Williams, where the user had recently posted the following photograph of a news story about Flanagan’s lawsuit against the station.
Videos show shooting
A Twitter account purporting to be run by the gunman has posted a video of the shooting, as well as one of the lead-up to the attack.
The videos posted in the name of Bryce Williams, the name Vester Lee Flanagan reported under for WDBJ7, show an approach to Parker, Gardner and Ward on the deck where they were filming an interview. The three continue reporting live and do not acknowledge the approaching person. The person filming then angles alongside the cameraman and aims a handgun directly at Parker, who does not appear to notice.
A second video shows the gunman shooting at Parker as she runs away from the shots.
The video then cuts. The Twitter account has now been suspended. Other tweets stated: “I filmed the shooting see Facebook,” “Adam went to [human resources] on me after working with me one time!!!” and “Alison made racist comments. EEOC report filed. They hired her after that???”
Updated
The WDBJ7 crew paying tribute to their colleagues, Alison Parker and Adam Ward.
Police are searching for Vester Lee Flanagan II, a 41-year-old “light-skinned black male”, a spokesperson for the Augusta County sheriff’s department has confirmed to the Guardian.
The spokesperson said police are searching for Flanagan “in relation to the homicide that occurred in Campbell County” – although Smith Mountain Lake technically lies in Franklin County, and their police department is leading the investigation.
Flanagan was described as 6ft 3in tall, approximately 250lbs, and public records show he has worked in the area as a reporter.
Virginia congressman Morgan Griffith – his district encompasses the area of the shooting – has released a statement:
Like all Southwest Virginians, I am heartbroken by the tragic killing of Alison Parker and Adam Ward. Now and in the days to come, Alison and Adam will be in my prayers, as will their families and loved ones, the WDBJ family, and our community as a whole.
Additionally, I pray for the recovery of Vicki Gardner, head of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce.”
“At times, we can forget that journalists and others in the public eye may find themselves at risk. Alison and Adam were not reporting from the scene of a crime or a potentially violent location this morning when this horrible event took place.
Instead, they were at one of our region’s popular recreational areas. I am deeply grateful for the important work undertaken by journalists regardless of this risk, and appreciate the efforts of law enforcement and first responders to keep them, others, and our communities safe from harm.”
Updated
The third victim of the Smith Mountain Lake shooting has been identified as Vicki Gardner of the town’s chamber of commerce, WDBJ7 reports.
Gardner was injured and is in surgery, her condition unknown, the station says.
Station reporter Allison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward were fatally shot by the gunman. Police have reported no other injuries, and have announced a press conference scheduled for 1pm ET.
Updated
Tiffany Stevens of the Roanoke Times is at the sheriff’s office, where police from Franklin and Bedford counties have been joined by state police (and phones continue to ring unanswered).
State police spokesman Sergeant Rick Garletts tells her that “investigators have a suspect but will not confirm identity” and that “the suspect is not in custody.”
Sgt. Garletts said he would like to tell us more, but he's deferring to Franklin County SO."This needs to come through them." @roanoketimes
— Tiffany Stevens (@tiffanymstevens) August 26, 2015
McAuliffe reiterates to the radio station: “ I don’t want to release the name, but we believe he is a disgruntled employee.”
He says police believe the employee was known to Parker and Adams, but does not speculate as to what may have been the gunman’s motive.
Instead he continues to push for gun control measures, namely background checks: “there are certain people who should not be entitled to a firearm.”
Virginia’s governor, Terry McAuliffe, has announced that “there is an active pursuit” of a suspect in the fatal shooting of a reporter and cameraman near Smith Mountain Lake on Wednesday morning.
Early on Wednesday morning a gunman opened fire at a WDBJ7 news crew filming near Smith Mountain Lake, in south-western Virginia, the shooting partially caught on the live broadcast. The gunman killed 24-year-old reporter Alison Parker and 27-year-old photojournalist Adam Ward.
“They are in pursuit as we speak,” McAuliffe told WTOP local radio. “We believe at this point that it may have been a disgruntled employee of the station. It is not a terrorist-type situation, it is a criminal case, we believe, at this point.”
Citing the head of Virginia’s state police, he said that police have a photograph of the suspect and “have identified the suspect”.
McAuliffe was optimistic about the manhunt: “Probably by the time we finish this interview we will have caught the suspect.”
Jeff Marks, the station’s general manager, recounted what police had told the station. “Someone with a gun, we believe it was a man, barged into where they were and fired several shots, six or seven, it sounded like. We heard screaming, and then we heard nothing, the camera fell.
“The scene was described to us as chaos.”
Parker and Ward were remembered fondly and through tears by their colleagues, who described them as gregarious and promising journalists. Ward’s fiancee was celebrating her last day at the station, and he planned to move with her to Charlotte. Parker’s boyfriend, also reporter at the station, had recently moved in with her, and described her as “the most radiant woman I ever met”.
Updated
