WDBJ reporter, cameraman killed in live shooting

Ward was engaged to his producer, who watched the events unfold live while working at the station this morning.

The suspect allegedly posted comments regarding the shooting as well as two videos of the shooting to his Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Then shots were heard and both Parker and Gardner were recorded as screaming and ducking for cover.

Late Wednesday morning, the Facebook and Twitter accounts of Williams posted first-person footage showing the gunman aiming and killing Parker.

Vester Flanagan, who also goes by Bryce Williams and was the police’s suspect in the murders, shot himself and was pronounced dead in the hospital at 1:26 p.m.

The gunman who opened fire and killed a Virginia reporter and a cameraman during a live newscast was identified after he posted two videos of the shooting on social media.

The station says Gardner was injured in the shooting. The shopping mall where the incident happened is just off Smith Mountain Lake.

Video of the WDBJ7 broadcast begins like any local news report, but turns grisly as the on-camera reporter screams and a gun can be heard firing multiple times. One of the victims of the shooting, Ward, was served a subpoena as a witness in the case, which was ultimately dismissed. Police say the troopers approached and found the driver suffering from a gunshot wound.

WDBJ’s general manager, Jeff Marks, said he wasn’t aware of any prior threat to the station.

Sheriff Bill Overton told reporters Flanigan initially took off in a gray 2009 Ford mustang before switching to a rented Chevrolet Sonic at nearby Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport.

After Ward fell to the ground, his camera kept rolling, capturing a brief image of the shooter. “Our hearts are broken”.

Ms Parker’s boyfriend, fellow journalist Chris Hurst, paid tribute to her today as “the most radiant woman [he] had ever met”. Originally from Malvern, Hurst said he and Parker had recently set up a home together and “were very much in love”.

Flanagan had a career in local television and formerly worked at WDBJ, where he worked with Ward and Parker.