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WDBJ Roanoke photographer Adam Ward, 27, and reporter Alison Parker, 24, were interviewing a chamber of commerce official at a strip mall in Moneta, Va. this morning. They were on the air when a man with a gun walked up and shot Ward, then Parker and the interview subject. Eight shots were heard before the signal switched back to the studio. The suspect is a former station reporter.
It is with extreme sadness that we report WDBJ7's Alison Parker and Adam Ward were killed in an attack this morning.
http://t.co/oC9s4vLJXV
— WDBJ7 (@WDBJ7) August 26, 2015The suspect, whose TV name was Bryce Williams, posted video of the attack on Twitter but the account has been suspended. His real name is reportedly Vester Lee Flanagan. ABC News says it received a 23-page fax from the person calling himself Williams; it was turned over to police. Flanagan's tweets this morning talked about personal grievances toward the murdered journalists. He was a reporter at the station until being let go two years ago, WDBJ is reporting.
Parker had recently become engaged to an anchor at the station. Ward was engaged to a morning producer whose last day at the station was going to be today, according to reporter Brian Stelter on CNN. She was said to be working and in the booth when the shooting took place.
* 8:45 a.m. update: WDBJ and other media reports say that Flanagan shot himself when confronted by police in Virginia. His condition is unknown. His Facebook page says he is from Oakland and got his start in TV news as an intern and weekend news writer at KPIX in San Francisco, per SFGate.
Edited after posting
