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Journalist Shot on Live TV

Emily Neave, Staff Editor

Two journalists for CBS affiliate WDBJ 7 in Roanoke, Virginia were shot during a live broadcast in late August. Alison Parker, the reporter, and Adam Ward, the cameraman, both died on the scene. Authorities claim the alleged shooter, Vester Lee Flanagan II (known to most by his on-air name Bryce Williams) later shot himself and died that afternoon in a Washington area hospital.

Not only was the shooting broadcasted on live TV, but Williams also recorded and posted the footage to his Facebook and Twitter page. Soon after, both Facebook and Twitter removed the posts from his page, due to high vulgarity content. Williams also injured Parker’s interviewee, Vicki Gardner, who remains in stable condition after undergoing surgery.

Williams was a former reporter for WDBJ, but was fired in 2013 due to lack of exuberance in the newsroom. Following his departure from the station, Williams reportedly murdered his two cats and buried them out of fury. Williams moved from several television stations throughout his career, leaving each not on the best terms.

"He was a good on-air performer, a pretty good reporter. And then things started getting a little strange," San Diego 6 News Director Don Shafer said.

Williams, African American, also claimed there were many instances of racism in the workplace. He filed a lawsuit against WDBJ shortly after his termination, which was later dismissed. The murders of both Parker and Ward seem to have been part of an elaborate scheme carried out by Williams.

"He couldn't take criticism and he took it personally," LaRell Reynolds, a former WDBJ employee stated.

His motive was unclear until a twenty page document containing three different suicide notes was discovered by authorities. It was decided that the press would withhold from releasing the entire document, however, ABC News reported excerpts of the content.

“It’s horribly unfortunate and very saddening that people saw that on live television. It’s saddening that happened in general, anytime something like that happens its awful, but the woman’s husband witnessed his wife die on television and couldn’t do anything to help her and that was very hard to see” NHS building substitute Ryan Eberts said.

It was confirmed by officials that Williams did suffer from a serious mental illness. It is evident through what was written in his letters, and his actions leading up to the suicide that he had been attempting to deal with built up anger for some time. In his “manifesto” Williams mentioned that the Charlestown church shooting was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

"Why did I do it? I put down a deposit for a gun on 6/19/15. The church shooting in Charleston happened on 6/17/15…What sent me over the top was the church shooting. And my hollow point bullets have the victims' initials on them." Williams wrote, according to ABC.

After exploring further into the life of Williams, experts discovered that he was not only full of rage, but held extreme racial prejudices.

“You (deleted)! You want a race war (deleted)? BRING IT THEN YOU WHITE… (deleted)!!!” Williams exclaimed in his letters reported by ABC.

Williams’ former colleagues claimed that he always felt everyone was out to get him, therefore generalizing and deciding the entire white population was evil. This attitude contributed to his actions, more specifically the unfortunate murder of two journalists.

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