the adam ward was engaged to a producer. alison had gotten another job and was preparing to leave and adam was considering a different career, and both were cut down at an early phage. we have no idea if they were targeted for some reason. but these two were work at bridgewater plaza in know moneta, virginia doing a live shot when someone opened fire, killed them both. heather: you looked at this video as well. i know we have to find out what happened to that person. now there are elements of the video. if you slow it down, you can see a photo of a person holding a gun and pointing it towards the camera. it's very clearly visible in this video. did you see that when you watched the video? >> the quality of the video i watched looked like someone show it off the tv screen using their phone. so it wasn't as clear as it will be for investigators. we can also report that chris he tweeted, we were together 9 months. we wanted to get married. it was the best 9 months of my life. alison and i were very much in love. i am numb, he wr

adam ward is photographing. then shots ring out. both parker and ward are hit as well as the woman being interviewed. ward's camera films the shooter, gun raised in the air as he laid dying ward's last living act capturing an image of his own murderer. >> alison parker, age 24. and adam ward, age 27, died at the scene. flanagan then fled before deputies arrived on the scene. >> reporter: at this point a manhunt is now on for a suspect who obviously is armed and extremely dangerous. it would last nearly five hours and cover roughly 200 miles. authorities say the shooter took off from the bridgewater plaza and headed northwest to the roanoke blacksburg airport in a gray mustang. while on the run he took time out to take credit for his crimes. 8:26 a.m. a manifesto from the shooter gets faxed to abc news. shortly after 10:00 a.m. a man claiming to be the shooter calls abc and tells them he's shot two people. >> shortly before 11:00 roanoke city police department located flanagan's 2009 ford mustang at the regional roanoke region airport

adam ward was to follow her.as moving on, so it was a party in waiting as she witnessed this horrible, tragic situation unfold in front of her eyes at that control room. and the anchor, chris hurst, sharing also moments ago that even though they hadn't shared it publicly, they were very much in love, and we wanted to get married. we will continue covering this story and be right back after a short break. american express for travel and entertainment worldwide. just show them this - the american express card. don't leave home without it! and someday, i may even use it on the moon. it's a marvelous thing! oh! haha! so you can replace plane tickets, traveler's cheques, a lost card. really? that worked? american express' timeless safety and security are now available on apple pay. the next evolution of membership is here. more and more people with type 2 diabetes are learning about long-acting levemir®. as my diabetes changed, it got harder to control my blood sugar. today, i'm asking about levemir®. vo: levemir® is

adam ward, cameraman killed today, he taped it. the documents say he turned his attention to ward, said something about paparazzi, told adam heed in ed intneeded to lo gut. what do you recall about that incident when he was fired? >> i wasn't there the moment. everything that happened was relayed to me. the termination was -- is handled by a department head and somebody from human resources. and then what happened that was a little unexpected was this outburst of unhappiness in the newsroom. but after that point and after he was escorted out, we witnessed no more of that. he followed a legal process to make some claims that were ludicrous and were dismissed. but we never had any interaction with him other than that, except the occasional time when he would be seen in a store or around town by one of our employees. there were no negative interactions reported to me. >> in light of the events that l led up to his firing, the threats, the uncomfortable moments, the day he left when staff felt the need to call 911, did he fear he posed

adam ward 27 years old. as engaged to the morning producer, and she in fact watched her fiancee get killed on live tv, trying desperately to reach him by phone there. he died as did alison parker. alison's boyfriend, as you mentioned, very close and very touched by this crime, very personally saying i loved her so much, and she loved me back. adam describes the general manager as a guy who would do any job you asked him. he was a lovable person. so a tight knit station. a tight knit community. tonight they're all devastated. >> dave wagner, thank you so much. that third victim is in stable condition tonight. vicky gardner was the one allison and adam were interviewing at the time of that shooting. she was hit in the chest and rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. officials tell us she is in the recovery room at this hour. and we have a lot more content right now on our nbc washington app tonight, including a story from our sister station in the san francisco bay area with more about vester flanagan's

alison parker and adam ward were there. a gunman fired again, and again and again, you hear at least eight shots before the broadcast cuts back to the anchor desk, both parker and ward and on tv for a fraction of a second, that camera caught a clear picture of the man responsible, the man dressed head to toe in black, knew the two victims. authorities identified the killer as vester flanagan, also known as bryce williams. he had worked for the tv station. twitter has a motive, and even worse, he posted videos of the crime, flanagan later took his own life. >>> chris, my friend is live in roanoke. he begins our coverage. chris, we'll get to the killer in just a moment. you're standing outside that tv station where alison and adam worked. makeshift memorial into the shade tree, balloons, flowers, but mostly there are tears and there is shock. so many people who have come by are people that work at wdbj. this is a true news family here. so many are just locals in this tight community. we're coming up with the same questioning

adam ward was 27 years old.leaving the media to go with his fiance to start a new life. it's unbelievably sad. the shooter is still out there somewhere. i do want your reaction to this video, joe. >> yes. i mean, what's going to happen here is they're going to lock down this entire area. nobody's going anywhere. they're going to be stopping cars, setting up roadblocks. they have to examine everybody in that park too. in water parks there's a lot of places to hide, bushes and stuff like that. the law enforcement officers have to be mindful of their own safety right now. somebody could be popping out of the bushes at this point. we have a good snapshot of his photo. you could still pick this guy out. somebody who would know him, especially in this area, is going to know who this guy is. and they're going to find out who he is and execute search warrants at his house. the police won't give you his name right away even if they do know. they want to execute a warrant first. we have no idea what his motive would be. b

that the individual, the suspect who gunned down this young reporter, alison parker, photographer adam wardity worker of the chamber of commerce, who is now in surgery, is now live tweeting. nbc's justice correspondent adam pete joins us now. i do not recall anything like this, and right now authorities have confirmed that this individual is now live tweeting under a pseudonym and is posting video. >> we have looked at this video and it does appear to be authentic. the person who claims to have fired the shots posted this thing on his facebook page a few minutes ago, including some complaints that we won't specify at this point, against the woman who was shot here, the reporter, and makes some sort of rambling comments here, but claims he made a video at the time that he fired the shots. it is further indication of the fact that he's clearly not in custody because he's live tweeting. he must be somewhere where he stopped his car in order to be able to do this. authorities now have put out an all-points bulletin for three different vehicles. they're trying to find him. they want this ending

this was the last image captured on the camera of adam ward after he was shot and killed. this is the man that police are looking for possibly connected -- possibly the same person but right now. also pursuing a man named vester flanagan, a former wdbj employee. alexandra, to bring this all together, this not only played out on live tv, the general manager of the station then had the horrible -- was put in the horrible position of needing to come forward to talk about this. let me stop myself -- this is a picture, i'm told, och vester l. flanagan, the former employee of wdbj. this is the picture of the man they do want to speak with and to be very careful, they're not calling this man a suspect yet but they are pursuing him. and this is the license plate that authorities have and this is the car they're pursuing, they're looking into? >> this is the only person it seems police have identified as somebody they are looking for. they earlier said they had a name and a license plate number. the key in this case, of course, was that image that you showed, that image captured on

adam ward was engaged actually to the morning show producer who was sitting in the control room that and she unfortunately was watching those live images unfold. adam is being remembered as a walking sports encyclopedia, to quote a friend of his, who absolutely loved his job. >> adam ward, walking sports encyclopedia. i would like to have been able to talk sports with him more, but i wasn't in his league. it kills me to know the college football season is about to start and here he is gone. >> adam had so much fun playing on the company's softball team, that they let me play on, too. adam was a lot better than i was. that's one of the reason we won the city championship. >> going to virginia tech or pursuing this career in sports broadcasting, he had the goals and achieved them with relent his work effort, and a lot of effusive joy. >>> we know we saw that entire newsroom standing strong behind the general manager of the station and the news director wearing those ribbons, so when you see them, it's the teal, which is alison's favorite color and the maroon which stantsds for the virgi

meanwhile, friends and family of alison parker and adam ward are preparing to say their final good-byes to two television journalists killed wednesday in a sudden shocking act of violence by a former co-worker. adam's family will receive friends monday at high school alma mater in roanoke where guests are encouraged to wear his high school colors. funeral service will be held the following day at nearby first baptist church. grant is the former sports director at wdbj and one of adam ward's mentors. grant, thanks so much for making the time. very tough last few days. adam ward, from everything i've seen and read, he seemed to be a loving, free-spirited guy who liked to have a good time, diehard sports fan. kind of somebody in the room you would gravitate towards. >> you see these pictures. and i don't think there's any one that he duoesn't have a smie on his face. he would come around the corner into the sports office and just beaming. and he interned for us and he made you realize why you're doing what you're doing because he loved every minute of it. it didn't matter where you were. a

adam ward was also from the roanoke area and went to virginia tech. the general manager of wdbj said ward was engaged to the producer of the morning show who was in the control room this morning when the shooting happened. the two of these people were assigned to the morning show, which means they got up in the middle of the night to bring the news to you first thing in the morning. >> we send people into war zones, dangerous situations and riots, and you worry they're going to get hurt. you send somebody out to do a -- how canurism and you ever expect something like this to happen? -- you use all of the words, senseless, devastated, those are all the news catchwords, but they all apply. as salmon to an, there's a third victim involved in this, vicki gardner who headed up a local chamber of commerce. back to alison parker and allison -- adam ward, alison was dating the anchor for wdbj chris hurst who tweeted emotionally about the situation, showing this picture that says they did not sure this publicly, but alison and i were very much in love. we just

adam ward was only 27 years old. f adam's fellow photographers at wdbj just tweeted throughout heart wrenching picture. this is adam ward's locker at the tv station. >>> coming up, officials in virginia are expecting to hold a news conference on the latest developments in this horrific, horrific shooting. what's going on in the investigation is coming up in the top of the hour. also we're getting reaction from the shooting around the country. brian stelter will tell us what he's been hearing. a new season brings a new look. a chance to try something different. this summer, challenge your preconceptions and experience a cadillac for yourself. ♪ the 2015 cadillac srx. lease this from around $339 per month, or purchase with 0% apr financing. you premium like clockwork. month after month. year after year. then one night, you hydroplane into a ditch. yeah... surprise... your insurance company tells you to pay up again. why pay for insurance if you have to pay even more for using it? if you have liberty mutual deductible fu

. >> reporter: reporter alison parker and photographer adam ward were interviewing a local chamber of commerce president live on the station's morning show live when a gunman opened fire at point blank range. last captured on camera was the face of his killer which helped launch a manhunt for vester lee flanagan, a former reporter at the station who posted about the shooting on social media. police caught up with flanagan as he head down i-66 and turned the gun on himself. flanagan had worked as a reporter at wdbj under the name bryce williams. he was fired in 2013 after less than a year. overnight last night he faxed a rambling 23 page suicide note said was harassment suffered at the station for being black and gay. he claimed it was the charleston church shooting in june that finally set him off. "i was already on the edge. the church shooting was the tipping point." he wrote. wdbj's general manager denies any harassment took place. >> he was not harassed or discriminated against. in fact, he made life difficult for some other people here, but we never sensed that could escalate to

alison was a graduate of james madison university, she loved the outdoors. >> in salem, adam ward, news 7 sports. >> reporter: adam attended salem high school where he played football. he was a virginia tech graduate and a huge hokeys fan. and both of them worked here as interns as wdbj 7 before they signed on as employees. alison worked at a station in jacksonville, north carolina, before she returned to wdbj 7 in 2014. adam had been here for four years, as an employee of our production department and more rely as a photographer and news. he and alison had been working together on wdbj 7 morning a little over a year, covering everything from community events to breaking news and they did it well. and both of them had fallen in love with co-workers. adam was engaged to our morning producer melissa ott, they were planning our wedding. alison and our 6:00 anchor chris hurst were dating. kimberly and jean were shattered by the news this morning and our heart go out to family and friends of alison parker and adam ward. >> and we'll continue to remember them. >>> we have updated information

, our hearts are heavy today with the tragic loss of wdbj 7 reporter alison parker and cameraman adam ward in a senseless shooting at smith mountain lake. our family had gotten to know alison and adam well in recent years spending many early mornings with them during live tv reports throughout our facilities in the region. they were more than journalists to us, they were good friends who will be missed. a third victim in this morning's shooting was vicki gardner, a close friend and a member of the franklin memorial hospital board of directors. she was transported to roanoke mek y memorial hospital and underwent emergency surgery. she is currently recovering and is in stable condition. our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of alison, adam and vicki. so a bit of good news. vicki gardner, who is the woman who was being interviewed by alison parker this morning, talking about the 50th anniversary of that lake at that site, she was rushed to surgery and we can now report survived her wounds, his stable condition and thankfully will stay with us here on this earth. all right,

adam ward, 27 was a camera man and a graduate of virginia tech. > i'm alison parker. we're putting the final touches on a special report. parker was dating a station anchor. ward was engaged to a producer for wdbj's morning show. she was in the control room when this happened. they were preparing to move and today was supposed to be ott's last day at wdbj. >> i can't tell you how much they were loved by the wdbj 7 team. >> how did the shooter know that the journalists would be in this parking lot? that is a key focus of the investigation. brian todd, cnn, moneta, virginia. >>> chris hurst is an anchor at the station and alison parker's boyfriend. they had just moved in together. >> my memory of her when we had our sixth-month anniversary. she made a scrapbook for me and put all the pictures we spent together for the first six months, even pictures i didn't want to be in there. she put them in there. >> parker's friends and cowork describe her as a rock star. >>> now a spokeswoman for vester flanagan's family spoke to reporters after the shooting. >

alison parker, age 24, and adam ward, age 27, died at the scene. r and ward were residents of roanoke, virginia. let us not forget they grew up in this area. they were part of our community. we don't want to forget that. miss gardner was transported to the hospital where she is being treated for nonlife threatening injuries. flanagan then fled before deputies arrived on the scene. the franklin county sheriff's office with the assistance of the virginia state police immediately began a search operation in the area to locate the shooting suspect. shortly before 11:00, roanoke city police department located flanagan's 2009 ford mustang at the regional roanoke regional airport. the mustang had been recovered as evidence. flanagan then left the airport and n a chevrolet sonic that he had rented earlier in the month. during the course of the investigation, investigators were able to track the suspect as he traveled along interstate 81 and were notified local and state law enforcement along the entire interstate 81 corridor to assist us with a look out for

kimberly: 27-year-old photographer adam ward was engaged to the morning show producer who watched thosemoments from the control room. this newscast was the last before taking a new job. >> adam just told me i'm going to get out of news. i think i'm going to do something else. following his fiancÉe to charlotte. kimberly: veteran anchor fights back the tears showing freely off camera. >> we're in a state of shock. you can hear people in the newsroom. tough to cover it when you don't know the people. but two of your own. kimberly: no one imagined they would become the suspect of the hard news lead story. >> these two were more than what you saw here on tv. they were much, much more. it's their family and we lost two members of the family. kimberly: in place of the staff meeting with good news, memorial gathering on a day of tragic news. leon: amazing day. amazing that they were able to carry on, on the set there. we sit here and try to imagine what it would have been like to be in that situation to watch a colleague die before your eyes. i just can't. >> not just colleagues. loved ones. t

the man behind the camera was adam ward. inal image of flanagan as he laid dying yesterday that helped station personnel identify him to police. at some point following the shooting, flanagan faxed a 23-page document to abc in which he referenced other mass shootings and described himself as a human powder keg just waiti waiting to go boom. his family expressed condolences for the lives lost. they've also expressed their prayers for the continued recovery of vicki gardner who was the local official being interviewed on air when the shooting started. she was also hit, underwent emergency surgery and now is in good condition. so a small bright spot of news following a very difficult 24 hours here in roanoke. >> sarah, thank you very much. let me bring in psychologist jeff gardere. thank you for being with me. >> my pleasure, jose. >> the fact that flanagan recorded video of the shooting and uploaded it to social media as he was on the run, is that unusual? >> it is very unusual and it's something that we haven't seen too much o

unfortunately, allison parker and her photographer, adam ward, were killed. allison 24, adam 27 years old. terrible. >> the gunman worked at the news station where they did at one point. he went by bryce williams on air. he had a lot of problems. robert moteses has more. >> greg and rosanna, good morning. allison parker and adam ward worked together each morning to inform and entertain, and by all accounts they did both quite well. the sheriff remembered them fondly from an interview that he did with them just tree weeks ago. 24 hours after their deaths, it is still hard to believe what happened. >> al soften. >> good morning -- >> as the sun rose, wdbj viewers awoke to allison parker telling them a story as she did each morning. adam ward was behind the camera. it was a story about tourism. >> to provide a better experience -- >> we won't show you what came next. gunshots on live television, screams from parker and then horror from the anchor in the studio who had just witnessed her colleagues getting murdered. the woman parker had been interviewing, vicki ga

reporter alison parker and photojournalist adam ward parker had just turn 24 years and was dating chris hurst who's an anchor at the tv station. ward was engaged to the morning show's producer melissa ott who watched from the control room as all of this played out. today was ott's last day at the station she was heading to new job. meanwhile parker's father has spoken with the washington post. he said that his wife first learned of shooting in a text message from the station. he says they didn't know their daughter's condition but they feared the worst when they did not hear from her. he told the post quote, my grief is unbearable. the third person shot this morning vicky gardner she has survived. parker was interviewing her about toy tourism when the shots rang out. gardner is the executive director of the smith mountain lake regional chamber of commerce. she's in stable condition after under going emergency surgery. >>> so again, a difficult day much police say 41-year-old vester lee flanagan who went by bryce williams on the air ambushed tv crew this morning at a shopping center in v

here behind me is the wdbj web site, they dedicated it to alison parker and adam ward. every single picture posted, they're smiling together, they look like they really enjoy each other's company working together every morning. we want to mention alison parker went to james madison university which set up a scholarship in her honor. juliet: a lot of folks were really upset by the fact that facebook, twitter has this auto play where you click on it and all of a sudden you are seeing this video and people were feeling of that. ben: are you have to do is girl passed it. >> they have this because it increases revenue because you get a lot more views on things. ben: we will look at the impact and roll social me at on this story. turning to other news back here at home expect complaints about the costumed characters and topless women in times square to drop because the nypd is setting up a new unit to patrol the area. juliet: their job is to address quality of life issues and build a relationship with local businesses, nothing to do with counterterrorism unit that is already

we have learned that adam ward was in love with someone at the station.he morning show producer. his fiancee was producing the morning show at the time he was killed on live tv. he was determined to put smiles on other faces as well. now let's talk about the survivor. the survivor. vicki gardner. this community that she loves so much. she is a wife, mother, grandmother and artist. we got this message from her employer late yesterday. they say they are confident she will recover and they will stand strong with her through this. miguel, alison. >>> alison parker's grieving father paid tribute to his daughter last night with a tv appearance which he praised her finest qualities and conveyed a passionate message about gun regulation. >> she lived a great life. she did a lot of stuff. she excelled at everything she did. she loved what she did. she loved the people that she worked with. she was happy with her place in life. so you know we can only take some solace in the fact she had a wonderful life. she was extremely happy and she loved this guy with all her

you have no idea. >> reporter: a local boy and avid sports fan, adam ward grew up 12 miles away in the rural town of salem, affectionately known as "virginia's championship city," where he played football for the salem spartans. both adam and alison, full of the radiant energy of journalists just starting out, were paired off by their bosses who saw their potential as a dynamic duo. >> they worked together for over a year -- day-in, day-out. as we look through the pictures and the ones that we showed in our various newscasts, we see all the fun moments they had together. >> reporter: while growing up in the small town of martinsville, virginia, she found the thrill in working on her high school's robotics team and later even tutored others in calculus. >> she was just scratching the surface of her potential. i saw her the first time when i met her and she left my office and i said, alison had -- had that it factor. >> reporter: here on the campus of james madison university, alison made a big impression at the student newspaper, and even interned at wdbj -- the very station she grew up

ripper alison parker and photographer adam ward.e to come in, that something unimaginable had happened. she was awesome to work with. he had this personality. he could you up if you are having a bad day. >> it's my family. richard: the community came by to get a respects. >> they were put of the family. richard: the now deceased gun man, vester flanagan, was a former station employee, a hunting fact not lost on general manager jeff marks. >> why was i not targeted? richard: now this station and city are dealing with a loss never expected. >> it really makes you think. wow, life is precious. see ♪ut now i all night long, we have been seeing people come by the memorial. it's remarkable how many young people, the employees of the station came out to work this story, standing right in this very spot all morning, mourning the loss of their friends. general manager said tonight, "our hearts are broken." leon: so many hearts broken tonight. alison parker's father issued a statement, calling her a bright shining light. he said, "not hearing

journalists around the country are showing their support for alison parker and adam ward by posting pictures of themselves doing live shots with the hashtag "#westandwithwdbj." parker and ward began as interns at the station. we asked kris van cleave to tell us more about them. >> i just can't believe that she's gone. i can't. >> reporter: chris hurst was supposed to be anchoring the news tonight. instead he's mourning the loss of his colleague and girlfriend. >> alison was a marvelous storyteller with so much promise ahead of her. >> reporter: hurst and parker had been dating for nine months. he said they planned to get married. >> alison was the brightest light i have ever met. she was the funniest, kindest, most beautiful woman that i ever met, and she just happened to love me back. >> reporter: you lost the love of your life today. >> yeah, yeah, without a doubt. >> i'm alison parker. >> reporter: parker had just celebrated her 24th birthday. a virginia native, she attended james madison university. she loved being on the water and playing with the family dog. >> in salem, adam ward, new

alison parker and adam ward shot to death as they delivered a report live on the air. it was a feature piece on tourism in the area. hours after the news, their co-workers vowed to keep reporting on the situation as painful as it was to them. >> they did great work every day did. and i am going to miss them both. >> so many of us thinking about the folks in that newsroom. alison's boyfriend took to facebook to tell us adam and every morning. he said the team is a family and together. shiba? >>> a museum that focuses on journalism and the news media is paying tribute to alison parker and adam ward. their pictures are now posted at the museum in washington, d.c., in front of the journalists' memorial wall, a wall that honors reporters and photographers from all over the world who have been killed in the line of duty. >> the purpose of the memorial is to say to the world, look, you may have issues with journalism and journalists as they do their job, but never forget, haere are hundreds and thousands of people risking their lives every day to bring news. and tragically, s

alison parker, age 24, and adam ward, age 27, died at the scene. both parker and ward were residents of roanoke, virginia. let us not forget, they grew up in this area, part of our community. >> reporter: the person they were interviewing, vicki gardner, we are told, still in the hospital at this hour in stable condition, still being treated. during the pursuit of flanagan, we noticed playing out on social media a rather troubling exchange. it was as though he was posting under his on-air name, bryce williams, and he was almost taunting police and the public, posting video, disturbing images of the attack. he captured it, it appears, from a cell phone that he was carrying as he carried out the attack here in the place behind me. as you heard there, the search for the suspect, flanagan, continued 200 miles north and that's where we find my colleague, pat collins, who is covering this angle of the story. pat? >> reporter: david, i'm in markham, virginia, it's about 11 miles east of front royal. this is where it all came to an end. and this is what it

adam ward was a huge fan of virginia tech. a note that calls them the bright, shining stars who believed in this community, ashleigh, and one other person who really believed in this community, vic any gardner, the executive director of the community of moneta. she was shot in the back. we're told she underwent emergency surgery and is in stable condition. her folks there at the chamber of commerce call her a bright, energetic visionary, and they are dedicated to standing with her throughout her recovery. ashleigh? >> victor blackwell reporting live for us. thank you for that. of course alison and adam leave behind not only all those k colleagues we've been reporting on but family and friends as well. alis alison's father is andy parker. he's kind enough to join us right now live on the program. first of all, mr. parker, can i just say it's so hard to prepare for these interviews. it will sound trite when i say we are all thinking of you and our thoughts go out to you, and i know there's a lot that you want to say about your d

we learned that adam ward was in love with someone at the station. engaged to the morning show producer. imagine this, his fiancee was producing the show during the time he was killed on live television. a colleague says ward always had a smile on his face and dedicated to his job and determined to put smiles on other faces. let's talk about vicki gardner. the executive director of the smith mountain regional chamber of commerce. friends say that was her title, but she did all she could to promote the community she loves so much. she is a wife, mother, a grandmother and artist. we got this message from her employer late yesterday when they say they are confident she will recover. miguel, alison. >> alison parker's grieving father paid tribute to his daughter. he conveyed a passionate message about gun regulation. >> she lived a great life. she did a lot of stuff. she excelled at everything she did. she loved what she did. she loved the people she worked with. she was happy with her place in life. so, you know, we can only take some solace in the fact

parker age 24 and adam ward h 27 died at the same.ene >> reporter: working at the station for about a year after he was fired. >> reporter:flowers piling up outside the virginia television station. the news crew died during a live broadcast. >> reporter: tweeted about his crime. he also posted a first=person video of the shootings. >> reporter:the shooting took place during an interview at a shopping plaza near roanoke. >>verner lee flanigan the second, age 41 of roanoke suddenly appeared and approached them and started shooting. alison parker age 24 and adam ward age 27 died at the scene. >> reporter:ward's camera captured an image of flanigan, a former employee of the station who used the air name bryce williams. >> reporter:he worked at the station for about a year before he was fired. >>"i can't figure out any connection with those people, who are among them, the kindest, nicest people who work here." >> reporter:two hours after feeling the scene flanigan faxed a 23=page rant to abc news in new york, complaining of suffering discr

wdbj journalist adam ward was also killed at the scene. >> adam ward, news 7 sports. >> reporter: after a stint on air, he became a photographer and was alison's morning partner for the last year. they first met at the station as interns. they were a good team, and it showed. fr adam come out from the camera, how do you feel right now? >> when i first put on the heels, i rolled an ankle. it is very form fitting we'll say. >> adam was with always smiling and respectful. he joined the station in 2011 after graduating from virginia tech. he enrolled the same year a gunman killed 32 people in a deadly rampage at the school. those who knew him said he had a heart of gold. adam was 27 and engaged to the station's morning producer melissa who was at work in the control room watching the broadcast when the shooting happened live on air. it was her last day at the station. she had taken a new job and adam may not have been far behind. he told her recently, i'm going to get out of news. i think i'm going to do something else. randi kaye, cnn, new york. >> now, alison parker's family released a st

the shots continue. 24-year-old alison parker and 27-year-old adam ward died at the sustain. the woman they were interviewing was injured. ward's camera caught a brief glimpse of the killer and the people back at wdbj realized it was the troubled reporter who went by the tv name bryce williams. >> becky wright remembers her husband working on election night. >> reporter: the roanoke station was the killer's last stop on a career of lost opportunities. he also worked in odessa, texas, savannah and tallahassee. it never worked out. it appears flanagan continued to use the bryce williams name online before and after the on air killings he complained about his career and the victims and even posted a video of the shootings on facebook. he faxed a rambling manifesto to a network newsroom saying -- the circumstances of these murders are i certainly troubling for the -- especially troubling for the people who live in the community. many of them feel as if they knew alison parker. they saw her on tv every day and were forced to witness her murder. it hits home. >> i tell you something

nbc's stephanie gosk has that story. >> reporter: alison parker and adam ward were a team, working together every morning. >> if i walked into the office in the morning and the first person i saw was either adam or alison, i got a smile on my face because they were always that way. >> hey, everyone. i'm alison parker. >> reporter: they were both virginia natives, both former interns at wbdj 7, and both found love at work. alison's boyfriend of nine months, chris hurst, is an anchor at the station. they had just moved into this apartment together. >> she wanted to do journalism that mattered, journalism that made people stand up and take notice, and she had already done that in her short time at channel 7. >> reporter: in a facebook post he said he's numb and called alison "the most radiant woman i ever met, and for some reason she loved me back." alison had just turned 24. a rising star at the station who loved the outdoors and theater. >> when i was younger, i wanted to either become a doctor or become a pharmacist. but as a journalist i get to cover those types of fields. so it's close en

alison parker and adam ward. their names em blazoned in the headlines, their faces and smiles etched in our minds forever. as we come on the air today, we are learning new details from police and investigators and hearing new calls for gun control. before that, though, i want to pause and remember the most important thing in all of this, the two victims at the center of this story. alison and adam. >> i am a virginia girl. >> reporter: she was a shining star. >> i wanted to go through a sleep study to see if my job impacts how i snooze. adam and i work the same early morning shift but have completely different sleep schedules. >> reporter: a 24-year-old reporter, colleagues say she never shied away from a story. unfailingly positive, relentlessly hardworking. >> adam ward, news 7 sports. >> reporter: and her 27-year-old photographer, adam ward. >> i have to bring him out. adam, come out in front of the camera. he is the ugly stepmother and just looking absolutely gorgeous. >> reporter: the pair beginning as inter

alison parker and adam ward were killed on air while they were doing a live shot. buzzfeed is showing some tweets. reporters and tv crews posting to twitter using the hashtag, we stand with wdvj. the use of video audio player on social media site in the line of fire. many of you are not happy that you saw the disturbing video of the shooting on twitter and facebook before you had a chance to decide if you wanted to watch it. twitter would not comment on the auto play feature. they did tell buzzfeed to check out the media policy. it says, video marked as sensitive does not auto play. you can change the settings to stop videos from playing automatically. >>> walmart says it will stop selling assault rifles. the reason is declining sales. it is not leaving the gun sales world completely. the world's largest retailer will replace rifles with shotguns and other hun >>> welcome back to "news 4 midday." the latest look the at cloud cover. looking at plenty of sunshine. some cloudiness down around the northern neck and the most southern parts of st. mary's county. cloudyne

and photographer adam ward just 28, bubbly and bear like. >> adam best way to describe my guess is a giant teddy bear he was just this guy that was just sweetest guy. always willing to help you out and do anything for you. >> engaged to morning producer who watched horrific scene unfold from the control room. saying in part i'm not okay and i won't be for a long time. adam i will never find a man so happy, selfless, protective, funny or charming like you. you were the one. you understood me, my soul mate i will always love you. as we continue to remember allison adam i want to turn your attention to the wdbj facebook we have a number of videos remembering these two. some ben and juliet are also light hearted. these kinds of videos that we often do about your favorite things you look to do and favorite foods to give you more perspective of who they were as people and journalists they can that out if you got a minute. back to both of you. >> days other news still to come morning what hillary clinton is saying about joe biden possibly entering the race for president. >> mike is watching

flanagan shot and killed his former colleagues, wdbj7 reporter alison parker and wdbj7 photographer adam ward. they worked on the morning news together. they were just out doing their job interviewing a local official for a story outside of virginia. 6:45 a.m. this morning local time, vester flanagan fired 15 shots during live television, killing the two and injuring this woman they were interviewing. not only did this happen on live television the gunman recorded it on his cell phone. ktvu's eric rasmussen with a look at what happened in the moments before and after that shooting. >> reporter: we learned at that video, it is so disturbing we chose not to show it here. vester flanagan even made his own recording of the shooting and his words reveal what many consider a twisted motivation. >> reporter: wdbj7 reporter alison parker and wdbj7 photographer adam ward never saw him coming. their camera caught an image of the man who shot them. police say it was a former reporter vester flanagan known on tv as bryce williams fired from the tv station two years ago. he took social media posting the v

alison parker, and adam ward diedt scene. the person being interviewed, vicki gardner of the chamber of commerce, was badly wounded. police say flanagan, a former reporter at the station, fled in one car, went to the roanoke airport, where he got into a previously rented vehicle and drove away from the city. flanagan was spotted about 200 miles from the shooting scene with police in pursuit, he crashed his car alongside interstate 66. police say when they approached the car, flanagan had shot himself. he was tan to a hospital where he later died. >> now, if you missed today's performance. >> reporter: flanagan was a longtime television reporter who went by the name of bryce wilson on air. besides roanoke he had worked in several cities across the country. shortly after the attack, someone identifying himself as flanagan called and faxed a 23-page letter to abc news. in what he describes as a suicide note, flanagan says he was attacked for being a gay black man. according to abc, flanagan also said today's shootings were retal

birthday with her family and her boyfriend, a coworker at that station, and 27-year-old photographer adam ward was recently engaged, also to a coworker. absolutely heart breaking and this morning a colleagues at wdbj 7 in roanoke, virginia their voices broke as they remembered both parker and ward, virginia natives and former interns at the station. friends who worked together every morning. ward was set to marry the morning show producer who was actually in the control room when both ward and parker were gunned down on the air. parker and her boyfriend had just moved in together, this morning on the "today" show wdbj anchor chris hurst said he did not watch those videos of the shooting allegedly posted ond social media by vester flanagan. >> what we are starting to see is continued boldness from people who want to commit murders in cold blood for notoriety and he did it to my -- my sweet alison and he did it to adam and i just -- i have no words for him. i have no thoughts for him. >> very emotional. this is what ward's fiancÉ posted on her facebook yesterday, melissa ott writing in part, you

yesterday during the morning show alison parker and adam wards were doing a live interview.unman walked up and started shooting. the entire tragedy was live on interview. the last image ward caught was of his killer's face who happened to be his former coworker vester lee flanagan. he drove away up i-66 before he shot and killed himself. we're still learning more about flanagan who used to work at wdbj. he was fired but he claimed he was discriminated against and that's why he targeted alison and adds dam. now today the news team at wdbj continues to report the tragic news delivering eulogies for their coworkers. they shared this video of alison this morning. >> when i was younger i was interested in the math and science fields. those were always my best subjects in school but i went the downism route which -- journalism route which is okay. but when i was younger i wanted to become a doctor or pharmacist but as a journalist i get to cover those type of field so it's close enough. >> reporter: she clearly had a bright future ahead of her. they were both virginia natives. the

adam ward, one of the victims today, videotaped flanigan's tirade. and flanigan told him to lose his big gut and flipped off ward's camera. 6:had 5 this morning adam ward had hesitate camera back on his shoulder, doing a live shot with reporter allison parker in virginia. parker was interviewing vicki gardner the local chairman of commerce about tourism. he pointed and waited for pan back. that's when he he began shooting, firing at least 15 rounds, killing parker, who tried to run, killing ward, and wounding gardner who is now recovering in stable condition at a local hospital. we know how this all played out, greta, of course, because flanigan shot video shooting the gun with his right. after flanagan fled the scene he tweeted about what he had done. a 23 page manifesto to abc news claiming the murders were retaliation for the charleston church shootings. saying hollow pointed bullets had his initials on it you want a race war bring it you white [bleep]. praised the virginia texas shooter and the columbine killers and saying he had had a victim of r

ed says adam ward had the face of a man i'm sure i'd like. the dude at the end of the bar that everyone wants to buy a beer. elizabeth burn burrley wrote so, so sad, what a waste of talented people who really had something to contribute. >>> we are continuing to follow this story. and you can, too, by downloading our news app. you can share your thoughts on our facebook page. we also have a 24-hour update on the investigation on wusa9.com. >>> other news now, right now the mail carrier who landed that gyrocopter on the west lawn of the u.s. capitol is in a d.c. courtroom. doug hughes has turned down a plea deal in the case. he is facing several federal felony charges. he says he made that flight to hand deliver letters to congress about how money is corrupting politics and campaign finance reform. >>> firefighters are investigating what started as an apartment fire in landover hills. crews rescued three people from the burning three-story apartment building which is on 68th place. 18 people are now staying in a shelter or with family. fortuna

she was happy with her place in life. >> photographer adam ward was end game today a producer at thetion, melissa ott from gibbstown, new jersey, it was ott's last day on the job. she was taking a new position in a new market. instead of celebrating the achievement with her friends, she had to watch in horror as her fiancee was murdered on live tv. she was in the control room producing the newscast. while we heard from parker's boyfriends and parker -- path, we have not heard from her fiancee, some were posting on her behalf asking for her privacy at this time. >> understandably so. >> of course. >> all right, jenny joyce, thank you so much. >> the shooter's note is described by police as part suicide part manifesto. >> so, in it he said he was a gay black man and felt he had been mistreated. in the chilling, sometimes rambling note, he said he bought his guns two days after the june shooting of the historically black church in charleston where nine people were killed. quote what set me over the top was the church shooting and my hollow point bullet had the victims initials on them.

the photographer, adam ward was 28. the virginia tech was the station's go-to guy.he woman being interviewed from the chamber of commerce was shot. we're hearing she is in surgery. back to you. >> thank you, christen, and just a terrible story. our entire news room is shaken. this story really hits close to home but it's the sort of violence happening around the country and there are plenty of families or still looking for answers. >> it is, and sadly, we're seeing stories like this more and more often. it's terrible and sad. it hits close to home. for us it makes it a little more impactful for us in the news room. but things like that, unfortunately do happen. >> our prayers and thoughts with their families and friends. >> our david culver is on his way down. as soon as we get an update, we'll send the breaking news alert straight to your phone. >> right now the washington monument is back open. take a live look here. visitors there probably hoping they don't get stuck at the top. that happened last night to 63 people, including to pregnant women. they were trying

and adam ward graduated from virginia tech, he was 27 years old. the third victim of the shooting survived. ward and parker were interviewing vicki gardner. she was hit in the chest and rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. she is in stable condition right now. >>> and so much more to this story than we can tell you here. we have more on how the community is recovering. you can check the nbc washington app for more stories. we will find out more about the vigils going on there in roanoke in 15 minutes. >>> today's d.c. mayor is expected to ask for more power to fight crime in the district. she took her plan to council members yesterday and will make it public today. part of the plan is to allow police to search and detain people who are on probation for violent and gun related crimes. 45% of suspects arrested for murder this year had a prior gun charge. 103 people have been killed on the streets of d.c. so far this year. >>> it is now 4:31. time for weather and traffic on the 1s. and a beautiful, nice, mild start to our thursday. >> we're l