Police: Virginia gunman shared grievances in lengthy letter

Published 4:30 pm Wednesday, August 26, 2015

By Andy Knight | Community News Content

A man with a gun is seen in this image from a live broadcast on WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, Va., Wednesday morning. 

The man suspected of killing two television journalists during a live interview Wednesday morning before shooting himself to death later in the day was provoked by the church shooting earlier this year in Charleston, S.C., according to a 23-page document faxed to ABC News.

According to police, Vester Lee Flanagan, who previously worked at WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, Va., under the name Bryce Williams, opened fire on reporter Alison Parker and photographer Adam Ward while the two were on the air conducting an interview with Vicki Gardner, the executive director of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce, about the resort’s upcoming 50th anniversary celebration.

Parker and Ward were both killed in the attack, which took place at a shopping center near Moneta, Va., about 25 miles southeast of Roanoke.

Hours after the shooting, two videos were posted on a Twitter account under the name Bryce Williams. They showed someone walking up to Parker, Ward and their interview subject, Vicki Gardner, the executive director of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce. With Ward’s back turned toward the gunman and Parker in profile, the shooter aims the gun and then withdraws it before opening fire on Parker, who screams as she tries to run away.

Another tweet reads, “I filmed the shooting see Facebook.”

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Both accounts were suspended within minutes after the tweets appeared.

In a story posted on its website, ABC News reports that it turned the document it received from someone claiming to be Bryce Williams over to authorities. In it, he writes that Wednesday’s bloodshed was his response to the actions of Dylan Roof, who allegedly killed nine African-Americans during a prayer service at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in June.

“What sent me over the top was the church shooting,” one passage reads. “And my hollow point bullets have the victims’ initials on them.”

Later in the letter, the writer quotes Seung Hui Cho, who killed 32 people and wounded 17 others in a mass shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007, and expresses admiration for the Columbine High School killers.

The letter concludes by saying, “…my anger has been building steadily…I’ve been a human powder keg for awhile…just waiting to go BOOM!!!!”

Other WDBJ employees, including anchor Chris Hurst, who was dating Parker, reacted on Twitter:

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