learning today? reporter: good morning, jose. people are coming forward with their experiences dealing with vester flanagan who went by the name bryce williams when he was a report here. a lot of those stories paint a picture of a man who was quick to anger over perceived slights, one who was required by station management to seek counselling following repeated conflicts with colleagues. he seemed to have a short fuse, something didn t go his way. he didn t fit in because people found it difficult to work with him. and so after a while and a number of incidents, we thought it was best if he left the company. and he did but not happily. he had to get some assistance from the police to get him out of here. reporter: and the station was filming as flanagan was fired and removed from the building that day. the man behind the camera was adam ward.
one of the former employees said on the day he was fired, they had to bring in police to escort him out. he made threats and he was agitated. some members of the news staff had to actually evacuate the building and go on lockdown at that time. we also found out that in the year 2000 he filed a lawsuit against another former station of his. wtwc in tallahassee, florida. that lawsuit alleged racist mistreatment directed toward him. he alleged he was called a monkey by an executive proper du producer at the station. that was settled out of court. clearly this man was a disgruntled former employee. including the one here where the two deceased journalists worked.
felt like he was going to secret t seek retribution based on the relationship he had with them when he worked at that station. it is hard to believe with such troubles in the past, losing a job, involved in lawsuits that he wouldn t have sought psychiatric care or perhaps the tv station not had asked him to have psychiatric care through their own benefit. you say, though, if he had any psychiatric care it would have shown up as far as a necessaril. a record would have to be made and retrieved when they do the background checks for purchasing guns. there are loopholes for obtaining weapons without necessary background checks. as far as a mental health issues, really, it s difficult for anyone else, even a family
conflicts at work. hala gorani takes us through the events as they happened. allison parker interviews a guest. moments later, horror as she and her cameraman adam ward are shot dead while on air. as adam falls, his camera captures a glimpse of the shooter. his weapon still raised. the gunman is vester l. flanagan, a former reporter at wbdj. williams posted a video of the shooting from his perspective on social media. proving he was there. williams tweets hint at a motive. apparent gripes with his former colleagues. according to an exemployee, williams was fired from wdbj. the station has been left reeling after first announcing the death of their colleagues.
light and it was cruelly extinguished by yet another crazy person with a gun. she excelled at everything. she did and was loved by everyone she touched. she loved us dearly and we talked to her every single day. not hearing her voice again crushes my soul. our family can only take so lays in the fact that although her life was brief, she was so happy with it. she lived it to the fullest and her spirit will always be with us. the family of vester flanagan also gave a statement. with heavy hearts and deep sadness we express our keepest condolences to the families of alison parker and adam ward. we are also praying for the recovery of vicki gardner. our thoughts and prayers at this time are with the victims families. and with wdbj television station family. difficult for them as well, don, to be sure.