Roanoke, VA.
An on-air interview turned deadly in Moneta, Virginia early Wednesday, when WDBJ7 Reporter Alison Parker and Photographer Adam Ward were fatally shot. The woman they were interviewing at the time, Vicki Gardner, was left in critical condition.
WDBJ7 (a CBS affiliate) reported that the suspected shooter, Vester Lee Flanagan, known as Bryce Williams, was a former WDBJ7 employee, fired for reasons not made public. Williams shot himself on I-66 around 11:25am Wednesday, and was airlifted to a Inova Fairfax Hospital where he later died.
Police are still investigating a motive, but WDBJ7 President Jeffrey A. Marks referred to Williams as ‘difficult to work with,’ and said he did not take his dismissal from the station well. Williams sent a ‘manifesto’ to an ABC affiliate in New York referencing Charleston shootings and other race-driven incidents as motivation.
The attack happened at Bridgewater Plaza at approximately 6:45am. Parker had recently turned 24, and Ward was 27. WDBJ7 President Jeffrey A. Marks confirmed their deaths earlier today in a live-stream WDBJ released shortly after. Interviewee Vicki Gardner is now in stable condition after a surgery, and has non-life-threatening injuries.
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