Virginia Shooter Kills Two Journalists

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A gunman who killed two journalists during a live broadcast in Virginia has shot himself and is in critical condition. The killer boasted of the shooting on Twitter, posting his own videos of the incident.

Vester Lee Flanagan II, who went as ‘Bryce Williams’ on air, shot himself on I-66 in Faquier County, WDBJ reported, citing state police.

He shot himself near mile marker 17 around 11:25 a.m. local time. The location is about a three hour drive from where the shooting took place.

Previous reports stated that Williams had killed himself, but the latest information is that he is still alive and in critical condition.

A news conference has been scheduled for 1 p.m. local time.

The two journalists killed on Wednesday worked for WDBJ, and the station has confirmed that Williams was a former employee. The general manager of the station, Jeff Marks, said Williams was fired from the channel two years ago and did not take the dismissal well.

Williams posted videos of the shooting on Twitter and Facebook.

“I filmed the shooting, see Facebook,” he wrote on Twitter before his account was suspended.

According to his LinkedIn profile, the 41-year-old worked for WDBJ from March 2012 to February 2013 as a multimedia journalist.

The video, posted on a Twitter account that was quickly suspended after the messages emerged, showed Williams approaching reporter Alison Parker while she interviewed a person live on air. Photographer Adam Ward could also be seen in the footage.

The gun is then raised, but Parker is seemingly unaware, as she continues to ask the interviewee a question.

In the second video, Williams starts shooting, and Parker is seen running for shelter. Eight shots can be heard before the screen goes black. An additional eight shots are then heard; this is presumably when Ward was shot.

Williams posted a link to his Twitter account on Facebook on Monday, and did two “video tests” on August 19. His Facebook account has also been suspended.

RT

RT, previously known as Russia Today, is a global multilingual news network that is funded by the Russian government and has been labelled as a propaganda outlet by the US State Department.

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