The man police believe shot and killed two journalists and wounded a third woman during a live segment Wednesday morning has died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds, authorities confirmed in a press conference.
Just before 11:30 a.m., Virginia State Police spotted the vehicle of suspect Vester Lee Flanagan, 41, heading east on Interstate 66, according to a statement. A trooper put on his lights but Flanagan sped away, the release said.
"Minutes later, the suspect vehicle ran off the road and crashed," the statement said. "The troopers approached the vehicle and found the male driver suffering from a gunshot wound."
Flanagan used to work for Roanoke-based TV station WDBJ, where the slain journalists also worked, and went by the name Bryce Williams on air, multiple outlets report.
A Twitter account associated with Williams' name, which showed a video of the shooting, was suspended Wednesday shortly after the video was posted.
The same Twitter account from which video of the killings was posted also tweeted out several messages, apparently referencing the two victims.
Jeff Marks, the general manager of WDBJ, told CNN in an on-air interview that Flanagan "did make accusations against some people some time ago."
"You can never expect someone to come back and act on those issues that were so old," Marks said. "What do you do? Do you imagine that everybody who leaves the company under difficult circumstances is going to take aim?"
San Diego 6 News Director Don Shafer told the station he worked with Flanagan in 1996 at NBC affiliate in North Florida.
"He was a good on-air performer, a pretty good reporter. And then things started getting a little strange with him," Shafer said. "He threatened to punch people out. He was pretty difficult to work with."
Shafer said the station ended up firing Flanagan, who sued WTWC for racial discrimination. The case was later thrown out.
Someone claiming to be Williams sent a
23-page fax to ABC News some time between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the network reported. ABC News said it turned the fax over to authorities and did not elaborate on the contents.
Reporter Alison Parker, 24, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27, died shortly after the shooting,
WDBJ announced. Multiple shots rang out at around 6:45 a.m. during a broadcast from Smith Mountain Lake in the community of Moneta.
Vicki Gardner, the executive director of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce, who Parker was interviewing at the time of the incident, was shot in the back and is undergoing surgery, CNN reports.
Sebastian Murdock and Jenna Amatulli contributed reporting.
