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2nd LD: Suspect in live TV show carnage dead after gunshot wound

Xinhua, August 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

Local authorities said Wednesday afternoon the suspect in killings of two Virginia journalists during a live TV interview earlier in the day died of gunshot wounds.

The suspected shooter was identified as Vester Flanigan, 41. His claims of racial discrimination against two U.S. TV stations surfaced Wednesday, including Virginia-based WDBJ-TV, whose TV crew the suspect Flanigan attacked earlier Wednesday morning.

According to legal documents, Flanigan claimed in a federal lawsuit against Florida-based WTWC-TV in 2000 that he was called a "monkey" by a producer in 1999. Flanigan also claimed that an unnamed white supervisor at the station called black people "lazy."

Flanagan later worked for WDBJ7 in Virginia for a while under the name Bryce Williams, according to Jeffrey Marks, general manager of the TV station.

According to Marks, Flanagan alleged that other employees made racially-tinged comments to him and thus filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The claim was found groundless and dismissed later, said Marks.

Describing Flanagan as "an unhappy man" who was difficult to work with, Marks said his TV station dismissed him about two years ago, adding that at that time police had to escort Flanagan from the building.

According to WDBJ7, the shooting happened during a live broadcast around 6:45 a.m. local time (1045 GMT) at a shopping mall in Moneta, Virginia, when its two journalists were covering a story at a recreation site called Bridgewater Plaza.

WDBJ7 identified the two slain journalists as 27-year-old photographer Adam Ward and 24-year-old TV reporter Alison Parker.

In the early part of the live broadcast, Parker was seen interviewing an woman whose identity was later confirmed to be Vicki Gardner, executive director of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Then shots were heard and both Parker and Gardner were recorded as screaming and ducking for cover. Gardner was injured but survived the incident. Endit