Reporter and Cameraman Murdered During Live TV Broadcast

[Subby]

The video is widely available and extremely upsetting. Shooter still at large as of this posting.

Gunman Murders Two Virginia Reporters in Attack Broadcast on Live TV

[Logan]

Don't watch the video. I wish I didn't.

[Subby]

I watched it without sound and it is still fucking awful.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Given the circumstances, it has to be a revenge killing, likely a former boyfriend or stalker. Amazing that the camera managed to get a shot of the killer as it laid on the ground.

2 Virginia television journalists fatally shot in on-air attack - Business Insider

[EagleFan]

I heard the person being interviewed was also shot and is in critical condition.

[heybrad]

Originally Posted by Logan

Don't watch the video. I wish I didn't.

+1 Horrific.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

I heard the person being interviewed was also shot and is in critical condition.

Didn't see that. Thanks. Probably doesn't change the motivation. Just trying to get rid of witnesses. From the video, it's pretty clear the female reporter was the first one targeted.

[EagleFan]

I heard that they did get a still from the video that shows the shooter. Hopefully that will help catch the bastard. Not going to watch the video, not something that I need to see and can't "unsee" it (unless I can find a memory worm).

[Subby]

Both people murdered were engaged to other employees at the station.

Watching @brianstelter on CNN - says camera guy engaged to morning producer and today was her last day, there was a party at the station.

— Noah Coslov (@NoahCoslov) August 26, 2015

We didn't share this publicly, but @AParkerWDBJ7 and I were very much in love. We just moved in together. I am numb. pic.twitter.com/tUrHVwAXcN

— Chris Hurst (@chrishurstwdbj) August 26, 2015

[Subby]

I am comforted by everyone at @WDBJ7. We are a family. She worked with Adam every day. They were a team. I am heartbroken for his fiancee.

— Chris Hurst (@chrishurstwdbj) August 26, 2015

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

I heard that they did get a still from the video that shows the shooter. Hopefully that will help catch the bastard. Not going to watch the video, not something that I need to see and can't "unsee" it (unless I can find a memory worm).

The photo is in the link I shared.

[Subby]

Looks like he is wearing a mask - maybe just the shadowing.

[Subby]

WDBJ photographer Adam Ward's fiancé Melissa Ott was in the control room -- she saw the shooting happen live.

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) August 26, 2015

[PilotMan]

I'm not going to watch that video. This is just too awful of a story. Something pulled from a movie and nothing that I'd ever want to watch.

[ISiddiqui]

God that's awful .

The Governor apparently said it may have been a disgruntled former employee at the station... which, adds more wtf to this.

[EagleFan]

I can't imagine what their family and friends just went through, to potentially have been watching that happen live.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Given the circumstances, it has to be a revenge killing, likely a former boyfriend or stalker.

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

From the video, it's pretty clear the female reporter was the first one targeted.

Please, just stop. Jumping to conclusions and making definitive statements is a fool's errand at this point.

[Young Drachma]

Yeah I'm not watching it. But so heartbreaking. Hope it doesn't inspire copycats.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by cartman

Please, just stop. Jumping to conclusions and making definitive statements is a fool's errand at this point.

Welp, they have said it's a former employee of the station.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Grover

Welp, they have said it's a former employee of the station.

Yeah, at least that's what the Governor is on TV saying.

And discussion about the likely motive is pretty relevant / justifiable given concerns about terrorism & the like. This had "domestic" written all over it from the get-go afaic.

[murrayyyyy]

it's not a mask, that's his face. Vester Flanagan

vester flanagan - Twitter Search

[JonInMiddleGA]

I thought this was a nice gesture, not surprising in a very small market like this one. Station GM says "a nearby TV station that is normally a competitor is covering other, unrelated news and will share video with the station"

edit to add: I should probably note that this was mentioned in connection with the fact that the employees at the victim's station have been told to remain locked down inside their building until the shooter is caught.

[Easy Mac]

Ummm, that really is that dude's twitter account if you look for it. He just posted a video of the shooting, handheld video... Messed up.

[Subby]

Virginia State Police ID suspect as Vester Flanagan, former @WDBJ7 employee. @AParkerWDBJ7 seated to his left on pic. pic.twitter.com/QQJaYoh2iJ

— Chris Wragge (@ChrisWragge) August 26, 2015

[Ben E Lou]

Holy cow. Thsi was at Bridgewater Plaza at Smith Mountain Lake. We were there on vacation last summer. My in-laws used to own a place there. I have eaten in that shopping area many times.

[Grover]

Can't believe he posted a video of himself killing them. Horrific.

[Subby]

Twitter just locked the account down, thank god. I saved a screenshot of his tweets leading up to the two videos.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Shooter was hired back in 2012

Williams joins WDBJ as a multimedia journalist and general assignment reporter. He has worked as a reporter at a number of stations throughout the South, including WNCT in Greenville, NC, WTWC in Tallahassee, and WTOC in Savannah
WDBJ Adds Two Veteran Reporters | TVSpy

[BillJasper]

Originally Posted by Subby

Twitter just locked the account down, thank god. I saved a screenshot of his tweets leading up to the two videos.

Thanks. Do you care if I share it on another board I post on?

[Subby]

Originally Posted by BillJasper

Thanks. Do you care if I share it on another board I post on?

Nope.

Facebook still up last I checked.

[JonInMiddleGA]

And, in the modern era, finding his LinkedIn was easy.
Originally from San Francisco apparently

Bryce Williams | LinkedIn

edit to add: Since I posted, it's been taken down.

Wasn't a lot in it that we haven't heard already, a couple of stints as a bank teller & working in the fraud dept of a bank (BoA I think maybe) after his first TV gigs in California. And a mention of him running some sort of vaguely marketing/p.r. business that appeared to be a one-man band kind of thing.

[Grover]

I've a feeling they won't take him alive.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Yeah, at least that's what the Governor is on TV saying.

And discussion about the likely motive is pretty relevant / justifiable given concerns about terrorism & the like. This had "domestic" written all over it from the get-go afaic.

It was a total no-brainer. It wasn't robbery. It wasn't a random killing as he knew it was being shown on TV when he did it. It had every ear-mark of a revenge killing. All they had to do was figure out who would be mad at these people or the station. Of course, he outed himself on Twitter and took care of that detective work.

[Schmidty]

Sometimes I wish someone would just shoot me, because I can't this world much longer.

[EagleFan]

What a piece of shit that person is. He should suffer, badly.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Here's the video leading up to the shooting as filmed by the shooter. No shots fired on the video, but he whispers 'bitch' as he raises the gun and points it at the woman. Chilling stuff.

Bryce Williams (Vester Flanagan) Filmed the Shooting of Reporter and Photographer in Virginia - YouTube

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

What a piece of shit that person is. He should suffer, badly.

Odds with this going to be suicide either by cop or himself. -150. He won't suffer at all.

[Chief Rum]

So wait, is Vester Flanagan a fake name for Bryce Williams? Haven't gone looking outside of FOFC yet for news on this. This is nuts.

Edit: Nevermind, MBBF made the reference above

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

Sometimes I wish someone would just shoot me, because I can't this world much longer.

World needs more people like you, sir, not less.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

So wait, is Vester Flanagan a fake name for Bryce Williams? Haven't gone looking outside of FOFC yet for news on this. This is nuts.

Other way around.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

So wait, is Vester Flanagan a fake name for Bryce Williams? Haven't gone looking outside of FOFC yet for news on this. This is nuts.

I think it's the other way around.

Bryce was his air name, Vester is his real name (or so it appears)

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I think it's the other way around.

Bryce was his air name, Vester is his real name (or so it appears)

Ah of course, that makes sense.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Here's the rest of the video. He literally stood there for 20-25 seconds with his gun raised pointed at the woman. All three people involved with the interview were so focused on their job that they never even were fully aware of what he was doing only feet away. And once he started firing, he just kept firing.

YouTube

Edit: Video taken down for obvious reasons.

[murrayyyyy]

and he faxed them a 23 pg manifesto last night. Here's a clue, if someone every sends you a manifesto, call the cops immediately...

[Easy Mac]

Originally Posted by murrayyyyy

and he faxed them a 23 pg manifesto last night. Here's a clue, if someone every sends you a manifesto, call the cops immediately...

To be fair, it was a fax, so they probably didn't see it.

*attempt at levity*

[NobodyHere]

Has anyone ever been convinced of anything ever written in the manifesto of a murderer? I mean if you're dumb enough to throw your life away over what is probably some pretty petty reason people are going to question your judgement.

Granted there's probably some mental illness involved as well.

[Subby]

He killed himself when confronted by police on I-66 in VA.

[Subby]

Man suspected of killing two WDBJ7 employees kills himself on I-66 in Fauquier Co. | Local News - WDBJ7.com Central and Southwest VA

[Easy Mac]

Yet another idiot who messed up the order of killing people. If you feel like you're going to kill yourself after killing people, just kill yourself first.

[murrayyyyy]

Game on! He's not dead yet, (in critical condition)