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| When you become the news. This is marks 10 years since a gunman killed Alison Parker and Adam Ward on live television in Ronoake, Virginia. |
The deaths of a Ronoake, Virginia news reporter and cameraman happened 10 years ago. Today marks 10 years since a local news station captured the moment a colleague was shot and killed on live television.
The death of this news reporter and her cameraman still haunts to this day.
Gun violence did not stop that day.
Still there is no change to protecting journalists or stopping gun violence.
The genocide conducted by Israel has killed 490 journalists. The current president, Donald J. Trump is responsible for three incidents that involved journalists.
The Annapolis mass shooting, the George Floyd protests and the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack were notable incidents where journalists were killed or injured.
Alison Parker and Adam Ward were killed by a vengeful former reporter. He shot them at point blank range while conducting an interview with a Blacksburg business executive.
The suspect was a fired reporter who blamed Parker for losing his job. He was an openly gay Black man who had a drinking problem. He was a victim of homophobia and racial abuse. Vester Lee Flanagan II (also known as Bryce Williams) allegedly feuded with Paker because of racist remarks made by her. This happened when she was an intern at WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, Virginia. They both worked there. Flanagan as a reporter until his firing in 2013. The dispute was one-sided and rooted in Flanagan's complaints, which were investigated and dismissed by the station, but it lingered as a grudge that he referenced in the aftermath of the shooting.
Station executives and colleagues described him as "difficult," "unhappy," and prone to "looking out for things to take offense to," with no evidence of reciprocal hostility from Parker or Ward. Parker's father, Andy Parker, and others emphasized that the phrases were innocuous and that Flanagan's interpretations were "crazy, left-field assumptions." The shooting was investigated as a targeted act of revenge by authorities, with Flanagan's manifesto and social media posts providing direct evidence of the motive tied to these prior workplace disputes.This information is corroborated across multiple contemporaneous news reports and official records from 2015, including investigations by the EEOC and WDBJ internal memos released in civil lawsuits.
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| Two members of the WDBJ family were slain. They were described as a fun, outgoing, professional team. Alison Parker and Adam Ward were killed by a former reporter. |
At the time of the shooting, Alison Parker and Adam Ward were conducting a live interview with Vicki Gardner at Moneta's Bridgewater Plaza about upcoming events for the 50th anniversary of Smith Mountain Lake, 26 miles (42 km) southeast of Roanoke. The shooting occurred at 6:46 a.m. EDT in the middle of the segment, which was broadcast on WDBJ's morning news program Mornin'. Video of the incident showed Parker conducting the interview when at least eight gunshots were heard, followed by screams. Ward's camera fell to the ground, briefly capturing the image of Flanagan holding a Glock 19 9mm pistol.
WDBJ then switched back to Mornin' anchor Kimberly McBroom at the station's news studio, seemingly confused by what had just happened. She later stated that she believed the noises could have been a car backfiring or shots being fired in the background.
Parker and Ward died at the scene. Gardner was also shot, but she survived following surgery at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. According to the state medical examiner's office, Parker died from gunshot wounds to her head and chest, while Ward died from shots to his head and torso. Gardner was shot in the back after she curled into a fetal position in an attempt to play dead. A total of fifteen shots were fired.
Staff in the WDBJ newsroom reviewed video of the incident from Ward's fallen camera and identified Flanagan as the likely gunman. They alerted general manager Jeffrey Marks, who passed the information to the Franklin County sheriff.
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| The shooter wrote a manifesto claiming the WDBJ newsroom treated him like shit. He had a feud with Alison Parker. |
Flanagan faxed ABC News at 8:23 a.m. and then phoned shortly after 10:00 a.m., making a confession. During the ensuing manhunt, authorities tracked Flanagan's cell phone to locate him.
Flanagan abandoned his Ford Mustang at the Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport and drove a rented Chevrolet Sonic north on I-81, then east on I-66. An automated license plate reader in a Virginia state trooper's car identified the rented Sonic at 11:20 a.m. The trooper called for backup and attempted to initiate a traffic stop, but Flanagan sped away. His car ran off the side of the road and struck an embankment near Markham after a pursuit of less than two miles.
Flanagan was found inside the car with gunshot wounds to the head, which were apparently self-inflicted while he was driving.
He was airlifted to Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, where he was declared dead at 1:26 p.m.
What makes me think that our country is doomed is the fact that no one seems to understand that blame should automatically go to the shooter.
The shooter was upset over being fired from a job. He had mental issues. He had legal access to firearms. He wanted to get revenge on people who he claimed hurt his chances at success.
He created his own faults. That is not the responsibility of the president, the activists, the conservative and liberal agitators or the media. He could have gotten help. He could have an opportunity to work for other venues if he would have tried. But he just felt that he got the short end of the stick. He snapped.
The nice guy is the most dangerous person with a gun. They don't care who they kill. If they were spurned, expect revenge to be served.
Gun violence is the No. 1 threat in the United States. Our politicians will not do a damn thing to stop it. They will strip every other freedom but not the damn firearms.
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