Suspected Roanoke gunman dead, after two murdered on live TV

The suspected gunman in the shooting death of a Virginia TV reporter and cameraman has died.

The Associated Press reports the suspect — Roanoke, Va. station WDNJ TV employee Vester Lee Flanagan OO, who went by the on-air name Bryce Williams — crashed a vehicle as authorities pursued him. Troopers found him suffering from a gunshot wound, and he died at an area hospital later Wednesday.

Flanagan was fired from the station earlier this year.

Shots rang out on-air as reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward presented a local tourism story at an outdoor shopping mall. Parker scream and ran, and could be heard saying "Oh my God as she fell." As Ward fell, his camera captured a brief image of the shooter.

Interview subject Vicki Gardner was in stable condition later Wednesday after surgery for her own gunshot wounds, According to the Associated Press

Jeffrey Marks, WDBJ's president and general manager, said Flanagan had to be escorted by police out of the station when he was fired, the AP reports. Marks described him as "an unhappy man" and "difficult to work with."

"Eventually after many incidents of his anger coming to the fore, we dismissed him. He did not take that well," The AP quoted Marks saying said.

Ward was engaged to a producer at the station, Melissa Ott — a graduate of a southern New Jersey high school — who was celebrating her last day on the job in the control room, watching it live, as the shooting unfolded, Marks said.

ABC News reported Wednesday it received a 23-page manifesto from Flanagan, which it turned over to law enforcement.

In the hours after the shooting, two videos were posted a Twitter ccount identified as belonging to Bryce Williams. The first appears to show him approaching the area where Parker was interviewing Gardner. Parker and Ward appear unaware of Flanagan approaching.

NJ1015.com had initially posted only the first of two videos Flanagan seems to have tweeted — it ends a moment before he fires his gun. However, upon further consideration, NJ1015.com has chosen to remove the first.

NJ1015.com did not post the second, in which Parker is shot. In that second video, Parker screams and runs away from the scene as the video ends.

Flanagan posted several tweets about Parker claiming she made "racist remarks" and that he filed a report against her. Flanagan also claims that Ward had filed a report with the station's human resources department after they had worked together the first time. The account was suspended shortly after the videos were posted.

Marks reportedly said he believes the allegations were fabricated.

Parker had been interviewing an economic development official about local tourism as the shots rang out. She screamed, ran and could be heard saying "Oh my God," as she fell. Adam Ward's camera captured a fleeting image, including the face, of a man holding a handgun.

WDBJ quickly switched back to a shot of the anchor back at the station, her eyes large and jaw dropping as she said, "OK, not sure what happened there. We will of course let you know as soon as we find out what those sounds were from."

Federal law enforcement was assisting, and federal officials said there was no indication of a connection to terrorism.

The woman Parker had been interviewing, local tourism director, Vicki Gardner, was shot and hospitalized.

Both the deceased victims were romantically involved with other employees at the station, according to Parker's boyfriend, WDBJ anchor Chris Hurst. He wrote online that they hadn't shared their relationship publicly but "were very much in love." He said they had just moved in together and wanted to get married.

"I am numb," he said.

Parker had just turned 24 and had joined the station as an intern after attending James Madison University, where she was the editor of the school's newspaper, The Breeze. According to her Facebook page, Parker spent most of her life outside Martinsville, Virginia. She was an avid kayaker and attended community theater events in her spare time.

Ward, 27, graduated from Virginia Tech University and was engaged to a producer at the station, Melissa Ott, said WDBJ spokesman Mike Morgan.

"Adam was our go-to guy. He pretty much was available to do anything that we asked," Morgan said. "He did live shots during our morning show for several years."

The station is based in Roanoke, Virginia, and serves the southwest and central part of the state. The shopping mall where the incident happened is just off Smith Mountain Lake in Moneta, about 25 miles southeast of Roanoke.

Police told employees of the station to stay inside the building as long as the suspect is on the loose. About 50 people work there, Marks said.

"We have police protection," Marks said.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report