The Anchor Woman Who Was Killed On Camera While Conducting An Interview

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On August 26th, 2015 at 6:45 a moment of terror struck a small town community. Reporters Alison Parker and Adam Ward were murdered on live TV. A man named Bryce Williams, 41, was a former employee at the same station where Parker and Ward had worked, under the name Vester Lee Flanagan II.

Flanagan was described as a disgruntled former colleague, who was named the suspect gunned down a reporter and cameraman on live television Wednesday morning in Virginia, after posted video of the attack online before killing himself after a lengthy cop pursuit.

While on air, you could hear many shots ring out, and screams in the background. With footage that has since been taken down,  you can see the camera drop to the floor and the screams continue — before the broadcast cuts away to a confused and concerned-looking anchor. The third victim was the interviewee who survived, by faking dead. After undergoing emergency surgery, she thankfully survived.

Image: Screengrab from WDBJ7 broadcast

This screen grab from the original broadcast was able to get an initial suspect identified in this case.

Jeff Marks, the general manager of the of the television station stated that Flanagan “was an unhappy man…. He had a reputation of being difficult to work with. Eventually, after many incidents of his anger coming forward, we dismissed him. … Police escorted him from the building.” This all happened in 2014, and soon after he filed a discrimination lawsuit against the station that quickly got turned down.

Soon after the grisly murders, he tweeted from his same account he live streamed off of, his feelings towards the station and how he was treated. He had tweeted that Parker had allegedly made racist comments and that Ward had reportedly complained to the station’s HR department about working with him. Almost two hours after the shootings, a 23-page missive faxed to ABC News headquarters in New York, apparently from Mr. Flanagan himself.

There have been reports he had been planning these murders for months, and didn’t believe he would be caught, until fate caught up to him after the car chase that ended in his demise.