processing that scene. working through evidence and fingerprints and weapons, et cetera, could be in there just to process that, but that was what we were learning welly also corroborating with other law enforcement who said earlier that this gunman is now dead and let s focus on the victims right now. i want to bring in the mayor of roanoke, virginia, david bauers who joins me now by phone. mr. mayor, i just want to first express my condolences, such a tremendous loss in your community, and i think we can not underscore enough as we heard from the sheriff, these two, adam and alison, they grew up in this community, this community knew them and loved them and supported them. they just recently interviewed you. right. yeah. thank you for your condolences and everybody who was been communicating with everybody in the row neighboring area. we appreciate your concern and
get to see them tomorrow. no weddings, no children, no future careers as journalists. as as someone who started my career in a very small market in virginia just 120 miles up the road from roanoke let me tell you i know how exciting it is to land a job in journalism and i know how special the relationship is with your photojournalist, especially if you re working that early morning shift and the producers who you know always have your back from the control room, and i definitely know how proud my parents were, and i am so mindful of their mothers and fathers, and i just wanted to take a moment at the top of this hour as a fellow journalist to tell the wdbj newsroom and alison and add am s families we are all with you, and i am so sorry. here s what we know. any minute now the local sheriff is going to be holding this news conference that unfolded live on the air of our cnn affiliate
hour something that hits extraordinarily close to home for so many of us having grown up in journalism. i just absolutely feel for these two young lives, two individuals who were murdered as it was captured on live television this morning, two young beloved employees at wdbj in roanoke, virginia and just, again, pausing to send my condolences to the newsroom there into the families of both of these young people, two young journalists, 24-year-old alison parker and 27-year-old adam ward shot and killed while they were doing what they loved, telling stories in their communities and they were shot and killed by a man, a former reporter, disgruntled employee at this very same space. legally his name vester flanagan on the air went by the name bryce williams. we ve now heard from law enforcement that he died at 1 31:30 p.m. eastern after turning the gun on himself, eluding police,
wdbj. the shooter walking up to the reporter alison parker and the photographer adam ward hovering for about 30 seconds before shooting and killing both of them. alison shot repeatedly as you hear her screams as she tried to run away. this now we ll show you is the shooting suspect who police have now tracked down. he is vester flanagan, a former reporter for wdby in roanoke, virginia, went by the name of bryce williams, and we can also report that he shot himself after a police pursuit, but we re told he is still alive. there are initial reports he was dead. they found a pulse. he s alive. critical condition, we re told and the general manager of the news station saying before flanagan was fired two years ago that he was known to be a trouble-maker. vester was an unhappy man.
but just what these tv stations mean for folks like you and just the roles that they play in in places like roanoke. yeah. they become part these folks on tv become part of our life and that s why everywhere i ve gone all day, people in roanoke and i ve not been down to smith mountain lake but people in the entire tv market, this region of virginia, we re just very saddened and just sickened, saddened and sickened by this horrific event that played out on live television this morning. it s sickening and we re all numb with you. these were bright young people. they were talented. they were intelligent. they were cheerful. they were just great young people, and they loved doing what they were doing in television and in covering our part of virginia. mayor david bauers, i am so