Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Vester Flanagan: Virginia 'shooter' appears to post videos on Twitter and Facebook of the moment he killed two WDBJ journalists

The shooter is being pursued by police

Adam Withnall
Thursday 27 August 2015 10:08 BST
Comments
WDBJ reporter Alison Parker, left, interviews Vicki Gardner shortly before
WDBJ reporter Alison Parker, left, interviews Vicki Gardner shortly before

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A video appearing to show the shooting of two journalists during a live TV broadcast has been posted to online social media accounts, seemingly by the shooter himself.

Police later confirmed the gunman, named as 41-year-old Vester Lee Flanagan, had died after shooting himself.

The graphic video showing the deaths of Alison Parker and Adam Ward was posted to Facebook and Twitter accounts, which have both since been suspended.

The footage shows a gun in the filmer's hand, pointing at Ms Parker and then opening fire.

The Twitter account used to post the video also included the comments: "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???"

The shooting occurred at about 6.45am EDT (10.45am GMT) during an interview being broadcast live from Bridgewater Plaza, a Virginia shopping plaza.

Live footage broadcast by WDBJ as the shooting took place appeared to show the suspect's face
Live footage broadcast by WDBJ as the shooting took place appeared to show the suspect's face

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe said in interview on Washington radio station WTOP that Flanagan was a disgruntled current or former station employee.

ABC News said it had received a 23-page fax from someone who identified himself by the name Bryce Williams, reported to be an alias used by Flanagan at WDBJ.

WDBJ's general manager, Jeff Marks, said he wasn't aware of any prior threat to the station. "Every now and then you get a crazy email or something and we'll look into it. Nothing of this nature than any of us could recall."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in