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
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
Im alison kosik. It is 4 00 a. M. In the east. Crash investigators are trying to determine what brought down a russian passenger jet killing all 224 people on board. The metrojet flight operated by the Kogalymavia Airlines crashed 20 minutes into the flight. Russian Officials Say the planes fuselage disintegrated in mid air across eight square miles near the Sinai Peninsula. Was it a technical problem with the 18yearold airbus jet . With the latest on the search, lets bring in ian lee from cairo. Ian, we heard reports that the pilot radioed in looking for a place to land due to a technical problem. Now there is something more egregious happening. Is it too early to know . Reporter right now, it is a bit too early to know exactly what happened. The theory right now is it was a technical issue. The russians saying that the plane disintegrated over the Sinai Peninsula. What we are hearing is they are blaming a mechanical issue on board the plane. We are hearing from the exwife of the co p
Great to see you. Breaking news from overnight, Louisiana Police said they have foiled a plot to kill police just days after officers shot alton sterling, three men have been arrested. Of the Officials Say they stole guns and intending to shoot Police Officers. Authorities say one suspect is still at large. That is not the only threat facing police there. Boris sanchez is in baton rouge with more. Reporter miguel and alison, officials tell us they have ever reason to believe there is a fourth and maybe even more suspects to harm officers in baton rouge. This all started late friday night into saturday morning after aofficials tell us there was a burglary at a Cash America Pawn shop here in baton rouge when they saw one suspect fleeing the scene with a handgun. He reportedly told officers that him and a group of people were looking to, quote, get bullets, in response to the protests of alton sterling. Officers raided a home here in south baton rouge, and they arrested two other suspects
Expect big security if you are heading out. Will the weather cooperate . Those details ahead. Welcome to early start. Im marquAlex Marquardt in for briggs. Im alison kosik sitting in for christine romans. It is christmas island, which is the first place to welcome in 2019. We will watch with champagne on the side. That line moves west across the globe. President trump may be hedging on his timeline to pull u. S. Troops out of syria after meeting with the president on sunday. Lindsey graham is suggesting the president has a better understanding and agreed to reevaluate. Graham characterized the president s pullout as an obamalike mistake. 2,000 troops are supposed to leave syria in the coming weeks and months. Mr. Graham says the president is not pausing completely, but committed to a fresh assessment to see what happens on the ground in syria. I think we are in a pause situation where we are reevaluating the best way to achieve the president s objective of having people pay more and do