Good evening. Im George Stephanopoulos in for david tonight. We want to get right to that news that horrified us today, the deadly shooting in virginia. A gunman targeting two young journalists with cameras rolling, theirs and his. Two journalists killed, another victim expected to survive. The gunman killed himself after a police chase. Well never know for sure why he set out not just to murder but to broadcast the crime on live tv and by filming it himself for social media. Something we wrestled with today, whether to grant the gunman his last wish by playing his video. We will not. Our Team Coverage starts with jim avila. Reporter a live tv interview on local tourism fatally interrupted. [ gunshots ] gunfire. Theres no warning, just bullets followed by screams. After the victims fall, the shooters image briefly captured on camera before he flees. Not sure what happened there. Reporter the anchor back in the studio is stunned. I heard a pow, pow, pow and it did not register that it w
Sister station in springfield, missouri. Thank you for being with us. Thank you, jen. The best prayers and best wishes of all of the folks of southwest missouri and northwest arkansas to the wdbj 7 and roanoke area. Our hearts are broken with the viewers. We are here to help you get through this. We need everyones help and love and support. All right. This morning, Law Enforcement officials across the state are continuing to piece together the information about what happened. It started all on the air as a story about the 50th anniversary of Smith Mountain lake. Police say Vester Flanigan is a former wdbj reporter who went by Bryce Williams on the air. The Sheriffs Office says he left the lake area and rented a car and headed north on highway 81. A license plate reader on the Virginia State police car spotted the vehicle. He led troopers on a cahase. He was dead at the hospital yesterday afternoon. Flanigan was fired from wdbj . 2013. The general manager has described him as an unhappy
Colleagues during a morning newscast. How markets in asia are reacting to the dows big rally and well tell you about the isis operative targeted in usa air strike in northern syria. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You are watching cnn. Im natalie allen. The u. S. Dealing with another deadly shooting. This all more shobing because it happened on television. Alison parker and her cameraman adam ward were doing an interview when a former employee from their roanoke station walked up and shot them to death. Vester flanagan was a reporter who had been fired two years ago. The crew had been interviewing vicki gardner, thats her right there. She was shot in the back and is in stable condition after surgery. Outside the tv station, people are leaving flowers and balloons at a makeshift memorial. Sadly an alltoocommon scene in the United States after such tragedy. The youngalists colleagues have had to cover the story while dealing with their own grief thr
Williams, the name he used on tv as a reporter. He used that name until he was fired. He details a long list of grievances and expresses admiration for Virginia Tech and columbine shooter. He also points to the Charleston Church massacre as a spark for his crime. He writes, the Church Shooting was the tipping point, but my anger has been building steadily. I have been a human powder keg for a while waiting to go boom. He claims he was the target of racism in the workplace and previous employers blocked him from getting a new job. Writing i tried to pull myself up by the bootstraps, but the damage was done. When somebody gets to this point, there is nothing to be said or done to change their sadness to happiness. It does not work that way. Meds . Too much. For more on the shooting and the history, lets bring in cnns brian todd in virginia. Reporter we have information on the shooters movements. Authorities say he left from this location and drove northwest toward the roanoke Regional Ai
Jeanne jeanjoey jackson here with me. Were waiting to hear whether or not there could be an indictment in this case. Its important to walk through what e we know so far. This was a 12yearold in a park with a a fake gun. Obviously, the person who called it in did not know the individuals age or the fact that the gun was fake. They were fearful and called police. But police roll up and in seconds shoot him. The dispatcher actually heard the person calling it in. I think its a fake gun, but hes got a gun. And hes aiming it at feepeople. The dispatcher, from the facts that we know at this point, did not. Tell either officer that arrived at the scene that the person calling in the 911 call said i think its a fake gun. So their Knowledge Base didnt include that it may be a fake gun. Or that it was a child. They didnt get that translation. However, just going back, remember its a grand jury. A grand jury is not deciding guilt or innocence. They determine two things. Whether theres reasonable