MONETA, Va. – A reporter and photographer from a local news station in Roanoke were shot and killed during a live news interview on Wednesday morning, August 26, 2015.
The shooting occurred at Smith Mountain Lake in Moneta, Virginia.
Alison Parker, 24, and Adam Ward, 27, died as a result of the shooting, WDBJ confirmed on Wednesday.
During a live interview at Bridgewater Plaza around 6:45 a.m., approximately eight gunshots are heard as Parker is seen interviewing Vicki Gardner, a local chamber of commerce director, on-screen. The camera then drops to the ground and the broadcast cuts back to the anchor desk.
The video captures an image of the what’s believed to be the suspected shooter before it cuts away. As the camera fell to the ground, the audience got the briefest glimpse of a man who appeared to be pointing a gun toward the downed cameraman. The station cut away to a shocked anchor.
The gunman is believed to have fired six or seven times, WDBJ General Manager Jeff Marks said.
Authorities from Bedford County, Franklin County and Virginia State Police responded, as did members of the ATF and FBI. Schools in the area were locked down as a manhunt continued for the alleged gunman, who was believed to be a disgruntled former employee of WDBJ, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said Wednesday in a live interview with WTOP radio.
McAuliffe said authorities know who the suspect is, and that police were involved in a pursuit with the suspect. However, Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller later denied there was a pursuit.
“The shooter has not been apprehended,” Geller said.
Authorities were looking for former WDBJ employee Vester L. Flanagan, who reportedly goes by Bryce Williams as a journalist. Flanagan worked at WDBJ as a reporter for about a year using the on-air name, Bryce Williams, according to a former WDBJ employee. Flanagan was fired from the station, though the reason was not made public, the ex-employee said.
He was driving a 2009 Grey Mustang, according to the Augusta County, Virginia, sheriff’s department representative. The representative said they were looking for Flanagan in connection with Wednesday’s killing of two WDBJ journalists, but stopped short of calling him a suspect.
Bryce Williams photo from WDBJ
Law enforcement later confronted Vester Flanagan on Interstate 66 and Flanagan shot himself, officials tell CNN. It was not immediately clear whether he was killed or injured.
Flanagan died at a hospital Wednesday afternoon, Franklin County, Virginia, Sheriff Bill Overton told reporters.
WDBJ reported police told them Flanagan died as a result of the self-inflicted gunshot. Minutes later, police said Flanagan had been shot but was still alive.
ABC News reported that it has received a fax containing a 23-page manifesto from someone named Bryce Williams, the news outlet tweeted. The document has been handed over to investigators, ABC said.
Adam graduated from Salem High School and Virginia Tech. Alison grew up in Martinsville and attended Patrick Henry Community College and James Madison University.
CNN and Tribune Media contributed to this report.
