Marks says when Flanagan was sacked, police had to escort him from the building.
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He claimed Ms Parker, 24, had made “racist comments” which were ignored, while he suggested Mr Ward, 27, had made complaints about him to their company’s human resources department.
The suspect was later hospitalized in critical condition after being stopped by police on Interstate 66 and shooting himself.
In an interview with WTOP radio, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said authorities believe he was a disgruntled WDBJ employee.
Officials said Flanagan was found later in a auto wreck suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.
Authorities say the gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a hospital Wednesday afternoon. He reportedly took video footage of the shooting and posted to his Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Video of the WDBJ7 broadcast begins like any local news report, but turns grisly as the on-camera reporter screams and a gun can be heard firing multiple times.
WDBJ said Ward was also from the Roanoke area and a graduate of Salem High School and Virginia Tech.
Jeff Marks, the general manager of WDBJ7, a CBS affiliate in Roanoke, confirmed that two crew members were shot and killed on air.
The people were gathered at Bethlehem United Methodist Church in Moneta for Vicki Gardner, who survived the shooting.
A news conference with police on the shooting is taking place.
TV reporter Alison Parker, left, during an interview on tourism at a water park before she was shot and killed.
Twitter and Facebook accounts that allegedly belong Flanagan (under his reporting name of Williams) posted extremely disturbing graphic first-person video of the shooting this morning.
Chris Hurst, an anchor at WDBJ7, tweeted that he and Parker were engaged, and mourned the “most radiant woman I ever met”.
“It was shock – the hair on the back of my neck went up”, San Diego 6 News Director Don Shafer said about the realization that he’d professionally supervised Vester Flanagan.
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Asked on CNN if the station had been targeted or had been threatened, Marks said, “Every now and then you get a insane email or something and we’ll look into it. Nothing of this nature that any of us could recall”. She was celebrating her last day on the job this morning.
