UPDATE: The Augusta County Sheriff’s office has reportedly identified the alleged gunman responsible for this morning’s shooting in Roanoke, VA as Vester Lee Flanagan, 41. Flanagan, who also goes by Bryce Williams, is still at large and reportedly driving a 2009 silver Ford Mustang.
What is this world coming to? Such a sad, tragic situation. Our thoughts are with the victims families.
A TV news reporter and cameraman were killed Wednesday morning in a shooting captured in a live broadcast, and the gunman remains at large, police said.
The scene of sudden shock and horror at a pedestrian plaza in Moneta, Va. was captured during a routine news story on WDBJ, a station in Roanoke.
In the video, reporter Alison Parker is interviewing a woman at Bridgewater Plaza about tourism in the area. As they talk, about seven shots ring out, as Parker and the woman scream and take cover (see video below).
The woman being interviewed was Vicky Gardner, head of the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce, according to The Roanoke Times. She was shot in the back and is in surgery.
Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe said the suspect who has been identified is believed to be a disgruntled employee of the TV station. Federal law enforcement officials are searching for the gunman.
She was dating Chris Hurst, a fellow reporter at WDBJ, who mourned her in a series of tweets.
“We didn’t share this publicly, but @AParkerWDBJ7 and I were very much in love. We just moved in together. I am numb,” Hurst wrote.
“We were together almost nine months. It was the best nine months of our lives. We wanted to get married. We just celebrated her 24th birthday … She was the most radiant woman I ever met.”
Schools in Bedford County have been placed on lockdown as police hunt for the shooter.
