TV News Team Shot and Killed

Update 11:50 a.m. BREAKING: Augusta County Sheriff’s office confirms shooting suspect Bryce Williams is dead from an apparent suicide

Update 11:30 a.m .MONETA, Va. (WUSA9) — The search continues on the highway for a gunman who shot a television reporter and photographer during a live interview at Smith Mountain Lake in Moneta, Va. near Roanoke on Wednesday morning.

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe says police believe the shooter is a disgruntled former WDBJ employee.

Augusta County Sheriff’s Office reports that police are looking for Vester Lee Flanagan. He was described as a light skinned black male, with brown eyes and black hair, 6 foot 3 inches tall and approximately 250 pounds. They believe he is armed with a handgun.

Virginia State Police say they are no longer looking for a Mustang, which was found and has been charged at the Roanoke Airport for at least three days. Police are now searching for a cream-colored Dodge Charger with unknown tags.

Update as of 10:45 A.M Police have posted a lookout for a possible subject of interest

Vehicle is gray 2009 ford mustang va tag wze 8846

Driver is Vester Lee Flannigan II

White male, 1973
6’3 250 black hair brown eyes
Black pants, blue shirt, possibly wearing ballistic vest.
Armed with handgun

In Roanoke area

Update 10:20 A.M. MONETA, Va. (AP) — A television reporter and cameraman were shot to death on the air during a live broadcast Wednesday morning from a shopping center in Virginia.

Jeffrey A. Marks, general manager of WDBJ-TV, identified the two killed as Alison Parker and Adam Ward. Marks said state and county police “are working very diligently to track down both the motive and the person responsible for this terrible crime against two fine journalists.”

Video shows Parker interviewing someone about tourism on Bridgewater Plaza in Franklin County. She was smiling when suddenly at least eight shots were heard. Parker screams, runs and can be heard saying, “Oh my God.”

As the camera drops to the ground, it captures what appears to be a fleeting image of the shooter. The person is wearing black pants and a blue top and appears to be holding a handgun.

The station then switches back to a shot of an anchor back at the station, who appears shocked and says, “OK, not sure what happened there. We will of course let you know as soon as we find out what those sounds were from.”

In a tweet, the station said: “We love you, Alison and Adam.”

Parker just turned 24 and attended James Madison University, where she was the editor of the school’s newspaper, The Breeze. She also had been an intern at WDBJ-TV.

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.

Her boyfriend, WDBJ anchor Chris Hurst, said 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.

The station’s website says Ward was 27 and a graduate of Virginia Tech. He 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.

MONETA, Va. – Two WDBJ7 employees killed in attack at Bridgewater Plaza

Wednesday morning in an attack at Bridgewater Plaza.

Statement from WDBJ7

This happened during a live broadcast around 6:45 a.m.

Police are looking for a suspect who apparently opened fire on WDBJ7 photographer Adam Ward and WDBJ7 reporter Alison Parker.

Adam was 27-years-old. Alison just turned 24.

Both were from the WDBJ7 viewing area.

Adam graduated from Salem High School and Virginia Tech.

Alison grew up in Martinsville and attended Patrick Henry Community College and James Madison University.

=================

Law enforcement is on scene following an incident at Bridgewater Plaza.

The incident happened during a WDBJ7 live report.