It was her dream to report for a station in her hometown.
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The suspect was identified as Vester Lee Flanagan II, 41, of Roanoke, by the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office. Marks said authorities told him they were pursuing a possible suspect.
A Twitter account with the profile name “Bryce Williams” was suspended earlier Wednesday after someone claiming responsibility for filming the shooting tweeted a video of the gunman firing on Parker and Ward. She is our morning show producer.
ABC News reported on its website that the network received a 23-page fax from someone claiming to be Williams.
Authorities say there were three casualties.
Federal law enforcement was assisting, and federal officials said there was no indication of a connection to terrorism.
A crew from WDBJ7, the CBS affiliate in Roanoke, was reporting live around 6:45 a.m.at Bridgewater Plaza near Smith Mountain Lake. Gardner also was wounded.
Ward, 27, had been a photojournalist at WDBJ since 2011, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Parker had just turned 24.
“She was just one of those happy, always positive, always energetic people”, he said.
She is a graduate of James Madison University’s School of Media Arts and Design in Harrisonburg.
Alison Parker is a native of Martinsville, Virginia, according to her online bio. She was an avid kayaker and attended community theater events in her spare time.
“We didn’t share this publicly, but Alison Parker and I were very much in love”, Hurst said in a statement. Hurst said the two had recently moved in together and wanted to get married.
Others at the station said it was particularly hard for Ott, who watched the shooting unfold from the control room. “He pretty much was available to do anything that we asked”, Morgan said. “It was the best nine months of our lives”.
The station is based in Roanoke, Virginia, and serves the southwest and central part of the state.
Parker was interviewing Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce Vicki Garnder during their morning newscast when the shooting occurred.
Court records and recollections from former colleagues at a half-dozen other small-market stations where he bounced around indicate that Flanagan was quick to file complaints.
About 50 people work at WDBJ, and Marks said “it’s the kind of place where it’s all brothers and sisters”.
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“We do not know the motive”, Marks said.
