Vester Lee Flanagan, the shooter suspected of killing two WDBJ employees this morning at point blank range—reporter Alison Parker and her photographer Adam Ward—is a former reporter at WDBJ who went by the name of Bryce Williams.
TVSpy spoke with former WDBJ reporter Orlando Salinas who said Williams often complained about racial discrimination at the station.
Salinas said that on Williams’ last day—in February of 2013—he created a “ruckus” by berating people in the newsroom. Salinas said employees were put in a room for their protection and police were called. Police then escorted Williams from the station. Salinas said the station provided security for station employees for an unknown time after the incident.
Salinas, who left WDBJ in April actually joined the station around the same time Williams did, in April of 2012.
WDBJ reports Flanagan/Williams shot himself as law enforcement closed in.
Update: Franklin County Sheriff Bill Overton said that Flanagan died at approximately 1:30 p.m. at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church.