#Journalists killed on air video driver#

вЂњI cannot tell you how much they were loved,вЂќ Marks said. The station described the two dead journalists as an ambitious reporter-and-cameraman team who often produced light and breezy feature stories for the morning program. An image caught on camera showed what appeared to be a man in dark clothing facing the camera with a weapon in his right hand. Gunshots erupted, and as Ward fell his camera hit the ground but kept running. The stationвЂ™s early morning broadcast showed Parker interviewing Gardner about the lake and tourism development in the area. вЂњWhy were they the targets, and not I or somebody else in management?вЂќ he said. Speaking to CNN about Flanagan, he added, вЂњDo you imagine that everyone who leaves your company under difficult circumstances is going to take aim?вЂќ WDBJ7 President and General Manager Jeff Marks said he could not figure out a particular connection between Flanagan and the two dead journalists. The Florida case was settled and dismissed the next year, court records show. He also said a supervisor at the station called black people lazy. вЂњWe still have a lengthy investigation to conduct and thatвЂ™s our focus as we move forward.вЂќДЇlanagan had sued another station where he worked in Florida, alleging he had been discriminated against because he was black.ДЇlanagan said he was called a вЂњmonkeyвЂќ by a producer in a lawsuit filed in federal court against a Tallahassee station, WTWC, in 2000. вЂњIt appears things were spiraling out of control, but weвЂ™re still looking into that,вЂќ he said. вЂњItвЂ™s obvious that this gentleman was disturbed in some way at the way things had transpired at some part of his life,вЂќ Overton told a news conference. He was taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital near Washington, where he died.

#Journalists killed on air video driver#

Minutes later, the suspectвЂ™s vehicle ran off the road and crashed, police said in a statement, adding the troopers approached the vehicle and found the driver with a gunshot wound. Virginia state police said the suspect refused to stop when spotted by troopers and sped away. Shot himself as police closed inДЇlanagan shot himself as Virginia State Police were closing in on a rental car on Interstate 66 in Fauquier County, WDBJ7 said. ABC News then contacted authorities and turned over the fax, which had arrived about 90 minutes earlier, the network said. Flanagan said he had shot two people, police were after him and then hung up. In the fax to ABC News, Flanagan praised shooters who had carried out mass killings at Virginia Tech University in 2007 and at ColoradoвЂ™s Columbine High School in 1999.ДЄBC News said Flanagan called the network shortly after 10 a.m. The broadcast was abruptly interrupted by the sound of gunshots as Parker and the woman being interviewed, Vicki Gardner, executive director of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce, screamed and ducked for cover.

at Bridgewater Plaza, a Smith Mountain Lake recreation site. The on-air shooting occurred at about 6:45 a.m. вЂњIвЂ™ve been a human powder keg for a while вЂ¦ just waiting to go BOOM!вЂќ вЂњThe church shooting was the tipping point вЂ¦ but my anger has been building steadily,вЂќ ABC News cited the fax as saying. He had been attacked by black men and white women, and for being a gay black man, he said. The network cited Flanagan as saying he had suffered racial discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying at work. Nine people were killed, and a white man has been charged in that rampage. The person also posted video that appeared to show the attack filmed from the shooterвЂ™s vantage point.ДЇlanagan sent ABC News a 23-page fax about two hours after the shooting, saying his attack was triggered by the June 17 mass shooting at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, the network said. Social media postings by a person who appeared to be Flanagan indicated the suspect had grievances against the station, CBS affiliate WDBJ7 in Roanoke, Virginia, which let him go two years ago.