and then we will talk about the reston space station -- the , andan space station mir the international space station. and that i will talk about future space stations. what comes after the international space station. we will talk about space stations that never flew. constantinecture of , one of the fathers of cosmetics. cosmo -- asthma not -- nautics. is a pioneer. in germany, they think these are the fathers of the space programs. he did a lot of studies on going into space and in 1932, he published a book on going to the stars. you start to see some of his space station design here. to comet the first want up with a space station design. the first idea came from the gentleman i just mentioned. the problems of reaching the stars, you can see a little sketch in the opening cover of his book on the title page of an early space station. design of theous space station was in 1928, right there. nordion was a writer into the engineering work, working on this design. the name meant the living wheel, designed to be 164 feet in diameter. it had three main parts, to solar power dishes to coll

. >> we're standing in the main room of the union station in omaha. e architect, william stanley underwood, wanted to make a statement about the strength of the railroads. in his mind it was strength, masculinity and that's what he really wanted this bl to embody. omaha really started out as a frontier town, typical frontier town. actually citizen from council bluffs decide they wanted to found the city on this side of the river. council bluffs was established to -- knew y wanted the railroad was coming through but they didn't know which side. have aid it would help to the city ready to go. and it worked. but cities on the west side of the river developed greater because it's easier to move est. union pacific is one of the premiere railroad companies of america. it was founded in 1862 with the pacific royalway act signed into law by abraham lincoln, so it cowboys several railroad companies to make union pacific and then they were charged with building the trans continental railroad that would connect east and west coasts. they started with moving west

that's when the station closed in 1971. the last station -- the last train came out.or the last 40 years it had never closed its doors. they didn't even have a lock, they had to call a locksmith to lock the doors. they didn't know where the keys were. that was the end of that era. makebanded together to sure this building was not lost and the legacy for the city was .ot destroyed that's where the museum comes into play to make sure this is preserved. a hugeacific is still freight travel railroad. they still get a lot of freight and forth. they are one of our largest companies here in omaha. their passenger service may have ended but their service to the community is still going strong. awe-inspiring.y it's kind of hard to imagine going to work every day in this. i think when visitors come, we hope they leave with an whatciation of not only union pacific did for the community but the history and the people that have built omaha over the years. >> are at the weekend, american history tv is featuring highlights from c-span cities tour. when we go on the road to learn abo

i do know he had a lot of problems and complaints against people at the station. he always seemed -- always felt, in his words, that people were out to get him. that they were somehow against him, which really wasn't the case. we work with a diverse group of people in our newsroom. and, in my opinion, people were not out to get him. but, from the words that he wrote in that manifesto you talked about, it seems that he was troubled and that's what he thought. it's interesting, too. vester flanagan, we knew him as brice williams. and i wondered, did he hide his legal name and identity when he applied for the job to hide the troubles he had had in the past with anger lawsuits, and volatility. we were all afraid when he left. he had to be escorted out of the station by police. and we were told to, if we see him, to call police because it was clear he was angry at the station and the people who worked here and was volatile. so in a scary way, when i heard it was him. i wasn't surprised. i can't imagine what it is like for chris hurst tonight. we saw his twitter account

they're at the television station. they're actually, probably in the area where he lives, speaking to neighbors, speaking to friends. they may even go as far back as people that he went to school with. they need to know the mental makeup of this individual. and it is important to them, because it will reveal to the police, did he in fact speak to anyone or put anything on social media leading him up to this day? jenna: a lot of questions of course about gun control and guns. we heard governor getting those questions already. we're not having that conversation yet today until we know more about the suspect, steve and find out exactly what transpired here. thank you very much. rawls great to have your expertise, steve. >> you're welcome. jon: according to the augusta county sheriff's office, quoted by associated press the suspect in this shooting on live tv this morning 41-year-old, vester lee flanagan ii, of roanoke, virginia. a pursuit underway according to the governor. the latest straight ahead. you're here to buy a c

the other tracks. there were 13 tracks operating out of union station. and here, we have three passenger cars, and if the last people to get an idea of what it is like. recreation, and something that we do not normally get to experience here in the u.s. very much. we are inside the southern pacific lounge car. the 1950's, midnight 50's, and this is the type of car that you would have come to to get a caulked tale, read a newspaper, just have a bit of recreation while you are -- to get a cocktail, read a getting an idea about what things would have been like while you are traveling cross-country on the train, and olderhe visitors, the visitors sometimes have memories of writing on trains themselves and can reminisce about that. --is one of those to points touch points of conversation between the generations. and a sleeper car, these areas, and these lower words would be holding down. -- folding down. and this area, a porter would come along with a key and political, and that would become th, and some of them had a net, so you would not feel if you would fa

>> people at the station didn't know it was happening. what makes this all the more sickening is that both of the people that were killed were no relationships with other staffers at the station. you know how these small stations are. we're sta ee're talking about a station in virginia. people spend long hours together. adam ward, the photographer was engaged to a morn producer at the station. it was her last day on the morning shift. >> she literally maybe saw her fiance shot? >> you hate to say it, but yes. allison parker was dating an anchor at the station as well. they're all at work. the two surviving members of this relationships is. the station is now paying tribute. at 8:45 they came on the air. the general manager announced it's been devastating for the whole staff, of course. >> we know there is this active search for the shooter in this community. that means every precaution need to be taken. there will be lock downs in effect as they search for this person. we know that allison was in the middle of an interview. she was live on

day at the station. she was in the control room at the time of the shooting. >> allison parker's family released a statement. here is part of it. "our vivacious, ambitious, smart, engaging, hilarious, beautiful, and immensely talented allison was taken from the world. this is senseless and our family is crushed." >> joining us live is washington dc reporter marina morocco. you have just made your way outside wdbj in virginia, describe the scene, the mood there outside that station. >> reporter: hey there, definitely an eerie feeling out here, i will show you some of the scene here because there are likely more than 2 dozen media outlets that have gathered at this news station, not a typical scene out here. there is a make shift memorial, balloons, flowers, the like, and outside the main doors of the station, there are police standing guard making sure no one comes and go. that is not on such a delicate time line. there are wreaths outside the front doors of the station. truly nefarious act that happened

outside the tv station, people understandably leaving flowers and balloons. it's a makeshift memorial that sprung up there. the young journalists' colleagues, think of this, had to cover the story while dealing with their own grief. >> cnn's brian todd is one of our team members covering the story on the ground in virginia. he is joining me with the latest. brian, hello. >> reporter: hello, natalie. this is an active crime scene behind me. the bridgewater shopping center where the two journalists were gunned down on wednesday morning. investigators here combing through some of the scene tonight. what we're doing is putting together new investigative threads now on the shooter's movements in the moments after the shooting. we learned investigators tracked him through his cell phone right after the shooting. he had driven almost 200 miles after ambushing the two journalists wednesday morning. it is 6:45 a.m. wdbj reporter alison is conduct a live interview. ward hands the camera back to his reporter and shots ring out. both are hit as well as the woman interview

the anchor's from a station in missouri. now we are told the staff here at wdbj is very close and as you can imagine, they're just trying to get through this very difficult time. the gm here at the station staff is doing. >> they are taking time to grieve. they're telling wonderful stories about alison and adam. and they are taking time to breathe. and they're getting about the work that they have as their mission. which is to uncover the truth and tell it to our audience. we're -- people are working extra shifts. we have great support from our sister stations in the midwest. and wichita and springfield, missouri, which have actually sent people to help us. so we can have our staff bolstered. we -- the outpouring of support from the community has been absolutely amazing. >> reporter: now, what makes this tragedy even heavier is the fact that the two victims are actually from the region. they have a lot of friends and family here, they went to school here and they went to college here, there are a lot of people in this very sm

what was the station doing uptown there? we look at the history, the vanderbilts delivered midtown manhattan to their doorstep. they shifted the entire center of gravity of manhattan to midtown. and that was all the result of grand central. they develop something else at grand central, which again we take for granted. ramps. ramps instead of stairs, so people, travelers with baggage would not have to schlep up and down stairs. a lot of people had no idea what ramps were. one magazine harkened back to julius caesar and said these were the earthworks the ancient romans built when they were invading a walled city which they used to get up to the ramparts, hence ramps. the notion of air rights, which has been monetized, worth billions of dollars, coming into play as the mayor wants to rezone part of the corridor, air rights were invented at grand central. the original vision of this terminal was to deck over park avenue, and by doing that he created an monetized this real estate. one thing we forget is the train tracks created th

the station was the last stop in a spotty career in local television. e, flarkz, savannah, georgia, midland, texas, and san francisco not far from his hometown. in 2000 he was fired from a station in tallahassee, florida for what the news director described as odd behavior and after he was fired a lawsuit filed alleging racial discrimination and the suit was dismissed. a disturbing string of tweets on the shooter's twitter page. he writes, alison made racist comments, it's unclear if they ever even meant. and eeoc complaint. a claim of racism with the equal employment opportunity commission. and adam went to the hr with me after work with me one time. he met the station's human resources department. the station's manager says no one saw this coming. >> he did make some accusations against people some time ago. you could never imagine that someone's going to come back and act on those issues that were so old. >> reporter: about a week ago, the shooter started posting pictures and life history, highlights from his childhood through high school and beyond a

>>darya: he was 27 and she was 24 when they had a partner at the station his fiancee was at the tv stationrning when this happened and she saw this on for live on the air as did everyone else of the station the whole market horrified by this as a setting for the man in the area connections to the bay area a lot of people with enough this morning see this horrible crime and the connection and thinking did they know the gunman were continuing to follow this and get more information about the victims she is an hostler by all accounts this it does not look good for her. >>mark: after the u.s. coast guard came in and rescued her is video of the rescue was carried live from the news at 6:00 in your consent summer school and down the coast guard employed harness and calling her as she had two goals with our the warm fall more than a hundred feet down the cliff wall walk in the two dogs a man was with a was able to climb back off the cliff he went for help is in hospital ship stranded on the steep cliff in daly city firefighters tried to rescue her earlier but thereafter it aggressively in the res

right now, we are on the lower level of union station. ere we are standing on this brick area would have been where passengers walked to get on the train. you would have had baggage carts , luggage, passengers running to and from. it would have been really cramped quarters. this is where it all happen to get on track one. 1990's.losed in the that created an exhibit space for us. first, when union station was operating, this overhang nlyld have been your o protection. there were 13 tracks operating out of union station. here on track one, we have three passenger cars. those allow people to walk through, get an idea of what it was like to travel on the see what, sleeping conditions would have been like, and get an idea of something we don't normally get to experience here in the u.s. very much. we are inside the southern pacific lounge car. this is mid-1950's, the type of car you would have come to to get a cocktail, read the newspaper, have a little bit of recreation while you were traveling on the train. this is an original car, original p

we know that he was a reporter at the station. his name is vester flanagan. he went by the name bryce williams. he is sought after in connection with this shooting. we see a picture right here of the suspect holding the gun. this is right after the shooting that killed the reporter as well as the cameraman earlier this morning there in roanoke, virginia. so, again, authorities, federal authorities, massive manhunt under way looking for this person sought in connection with the shooting, vester flanagan, former employee of the station who had been fired. kate? >> a lot -- we have to be careful on this, pamela. you can check me on this. alexandra is still here as well. we have two things going on at the moment. we have the image here of the suspect. 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 pl

>> he was having trouble at the station from the very get-go. he couldn't get along with his employees. the employees felt threatened by him. his behavior was aggressive. he was also apparently a very, very poor journalist and reprimanded several times for poor reports, poor sourcing, just poor execution of his job. and what you see in the record, and all the record comes from the lawsuit he then filed after he was fired, it shows a station that was really trying to help him. memo after memo advising him to get coaching, that we'll supply coaching, that you need to change your attitude. finally the letter you cited which referred him to the company's health advocate for some counseling. they tried over and over and over again to straighten out attitude, straighten out working relationships and strengthen his journalism. it didn't work and it all culminated into that day, february of 2013, when they had to call police after firing him and the police had to pull him up out of his chair and take him out of the newsroom physically as the sales staff

flanagan,t, vester was said to be a disgruntled employee at the same station. shot himself in later died at the hospital. >> this is 24-year-old alison parker, and in turn turned morning reporter at a tiny television station in virginia. every day she worked the morning shift with adam ward, a 27-year-old cameraman. like allison, he was engaged to be married. her job involved a wide array of local assignments. this morning she and adam were doing a story about tourism. they were interviewing a member of the chamber of commerce live on air. >> to help us grow and develop. >> walking up quietly behind the crew was a former colleague, thought to have been sacked following a complaint by the cameraman. he was armed with a gun and carrying a camera. what happened next has shocked a country almost immune to gun violence. he raised the gun and fired. a dozen shots, if not more, rang out. >> not sure what happened there. we will at you know as soon as we find out what those sounds were from. >> what happened was that the reporter and cameraman were both shot dead. the

that's the same station where the victims worked. the shooting happened during the morning broadcast on wdbj. reporter alison parker was interviewing a woman live on the air as photographer adam ward's c camera was rolling. then you hear the sound of gunfire. peres secretary josh earnest just spoke about to the shootings. listen to this. >> i do not have the opportunity to speak to the president about the tragic shooting that occurred today in virginia. obviously thoughts and prayers of everybody here at the white house are if w the families of those who were injured or killed in that terrible incident. the precise details continue to be under investigation but as you've heard me say in the past, this is another example of gun violence that is becoming all too common in communities large and small all across the united states. and while there is no piece of legislation that will ends all violence in this country, there are some common sense things that only congress can do that that we know would have a tangible impact in reducing gu

the station was the last stop in what appears to be a spotty career in local television. records showed he works at tv stations in greenville, north carolina, savannah, georgia, san francisco not far from his home town. in 2000 he was fired from a station in tallahassee, florida for what the news director described as odd behavior. after his firing, a lawsuit filed alleging racial discrimination. the suit dismissed. this morning allegations of racism would emerge again. this time in a disturbing string of tweets. on the shooter's own twitter page. hours after the shooting he rights alison made racist comments meaning alison park terrify reporter he killed but never worked with. it's unclear if they ever even met. a minute later he writes eeoc complaint, claim of race jim with the equal diplomat opportunity commission. parker went to hr on me after working with me one time. adam was adam ward the photographer killed. the station's manager said no one saw this coming. >> he did make some accusations against people sometime ago. you can never imagine that somebody is going to

happy to be in the tv station, happy to have his foot in the door on his first job, eager to do a good job. >> reporter: flanagan launched his on-air career in relative obscurity in dusty, oil-rich midland, texas, where he filed reports for kmid television. after a brief stint, he moved on to the spanish moss oak trees and antebellum homes of savannah, georgia, reporting for wtoc. >> each year, small businesses pump $1.6 billion. >> everyone was just starting out, so there was a lot of energy, a lot of ambition. >> reporter: elaine reyes was another young, fresh-faced reporter at wtoc, who never saw anything sinister lurking behind flanagan's million-dollar smile. >> we're going to go inside and check out the anchoring. >> i didn't personally have any issues with him. he was sometimes silly or goofy, as i think maybe we all can be in stressful newsrooms. he seemed like any other young reporter trying to make it in the world. >> reporter: but there was one thing that seemed to set him apart, she says. a laser-focused ambition to be famous. >> he'd go out and shoot his own stories in a t

i wanted to highlight the great work the station is doing. we refer to them as [inaudible] so i give you inspector mullen. >> thank you captain. members of the commission, command staff and public. thank you for giving me this opportunity to let know what the investigation team and tearival. i have been with the department for 23 years and coming to tearival it is interesting to see the explosion of the technology that happened over the recent years. in my tenure i haveants n't seen such great tools to combat the crimes occurring in tearival and sit a wide. the crime data ware house we use now is a great tool. it gives information that we can actually pull information out of and we construct our officers to target certain areas within the tearival district as it relates to property crimes, robberies and burglaries. so, we also have the use of video now. it has come of age where a lot of private and commercial establishments have video in their works on their perimeters so we are establishing a catalog of these within the district and have over

, they are a family station and it's the number one station in the market.re's a great deal of stability. i actually left the nbc affiliate, don't throw anything at me, and went to wdbj 7. i've been there, this will be my third election cycle coming in the fall. they are a very close-knit, very stable. talent comes, stays. and again, this is kind of inside the beltway kind of talking, but it's a very quiet newsroom and very focused, very professional. they kind to each other. again, you can count the talent and what have you on one hand and two hands, ten, and the support staff. so helpful, kind, courteous. it's been an honor for me to be associated with them. and when they talk about family, it's not just today. they have a reputation of being family and loyal to each other and anyway, as an organization, you couldn't -- you just can't beat them. you can't beat them. >> professor denton from virginia tech, colleague of both of them who actually taught adam ward at virginia tech, thank you so much for sharing your remembrances on what is a very difficult day

the shooting occurred live on that station's air. colleagues of the victims still broadcasting after the incident were joined by the station's general manager to report the shooting and memorialize their friends. >> we are following breaking news. news that has affected our wdbj family. shots were fired around 6:45. and our general manager and wdbj 7 vice president jeff marks is here. to tell us more about what happened. >> it is my very, very sad duty to report that we have determined through the help of the police and our employees that alison and adam died this morning shortly after 6:45 when the shots rang out. i cannot tell you how much they were loved. alison and adam, by the wdbj 7 team. >>> killer has been identified as a former reporter of the station. his on air name was bryce williams. he had been dismissed two years prior. soon africa he started tweeting about his act, uploading his own video of the shooting. he was tracked down in part through the use of a license plate reader. the police attempted to pull him over in nor

and alison parker was in a relationship with an anchor at the station. ter the shooting, the boyfriend posted this photo on twitter writing, we didn't share this publicly but alison and i were very much in love, we just moved in together, i am numb. david lee miller with more now. people who knew them loved them, clearly. >> indeed they did, shepard. her family also said she felt numb because of recent events. the family said, alison was our bright shining light and it was extinguished by another crazy person. they added, she lived life to the fullest. her spirit with always be with us. she loved journalism but it wasn't always her chosen career. listen to this clip. >> when i was younger, i was really interested in the math and science fields, those were always my best subjects in school but i went the journalism route. but when i was younger i either wanted to become a doctor or become a pharmacist. but as a journalist, i get to cover those types of fields. so it's close enough. >> both alison parker and adam ward grew up in the roanoke area. the boyfri

as we learn more about him, we hear from devastated journalists inside the station reporting on their own taj tragic story. good evening, everyone, i'm maurice dubois. >> and we begin in roanoke virginia where the two victims were employed. >> reporter: it played out jarringly and suddenly on thousands of tv screens this morning tuned to morning tv in roanoke virginia, and it was a devastating and jarring impact, especially for the people in the control room. tonight the killer is dead, but the damage is done. candles burn among the memorial tribltds in own oak at the tv station. former tv reporter vester lee flanagan fumed and brooded over his professional misfortunes and took them out on two young journalists during a live report for the station that fired him two years ago. we're pausing the video, but the shots continue.a, lison parker and adam ward died at the scene. ward's camera caught a brief glimpse of the killer, and the people realized it was the troubled reporter who went by the tv name bryce williams. >> reporter: the roanoke station was the killer's last stop on a career

we know that according to the parent company of wwdbj, the station and the parent company of the station i should say the national association of broadcasters has set up a fund to help out the victims' families. also reporters and journalists from around the world have started to post pictures of themselves out doing what i'm doing right now in a live shot. and they've been posting that on twitter with the #we stand with wdbj. >> so many he americans not just journalists kenneth, feel that same sentiment. thank you so much. kenneth moton live in virginia. thanks again. >>> investigators have been searching the gunman's apartment and the surrounding area trying to piece together what was a clearly troubled life. we know he was fired by tv stations at least twice because managers said he was causing problems with other employees. with more, here's abc's pierre thom thomas. >> reporter: he was known as local tv reporter are bryce williams. here he is holding a gun, a man slowly descending toward madness. >> some point in his life, it would appear things were spiraling out of control. >> rep

he crashed his car into the gas station. three people who were there at the time, they thankfully escaped. police have the station surrounded as three helicopters, eight ambulances standing by. we will continue to monitor this breaking story. we will update you as developments warrant. stay with us. >>> "outfront" next, details about the shooter and the weapon he used. also, he faxed a 23-page suicide note to a news organization after the shootings. what motivated his deadly actions? alison parker and adam ward, two young people with great careers ahead of them and new loves in their lives. their story ahead. >>> turning to politics, donald trump's tough talk may have reached new heights last night battling with a latino reporter and doing an impersination. did he go too far? visibility into your business, it can quickly become the only thing you think about. that's where at&t can help. at&t's innovative solutions connect machines and people... to keep your internet of things in-sync, in real-time. leaving you free to focus o

the station says the commission dismissed those claims right away. ltiple publications i should mention have also written about and reported on a lawsuit back in 2000 that flanagan engaged in -- that he sued a tv station in tallahassee, florida, also alleging racism. so maybe a bit of a pattern there. but once again, the station emphasizing the names that should be remembered, you should come away with, are those of alison parker, 24, and adam ward 27, lives cut too short this morning. stephanie chuang, nbc bay area news. >> thank you, steph. we are awaiting a news conference from the franklin county sheriff's office in virginia. you see the podium is set up, and just about ready to go there. they're doing microphone checks. once it begins, we will bring you a live special report, again, conflicting reports this morning as to whether that suspect is still alive. he had a very faint pulse according if officials on the ground. we'll take you there. >> just so many aspects of this story. stay with us as it develops throughout the course of the day. we're

the shooter identified as vester flanagan was a former reporter at the station and went by the on-air name of bryce williams. after leading police on a high- speed pursuit, he shot himself and died at the hospital later. >> at some point in his life it would appear things were spiraling out of control. >> reporter: both parker and ward reportedly had run-ins with flanagan when he worked at the station. flanagan's facebook and twitter accounts were taken down. but before they were, tweets appeared minutes after the shooting. one said that a report was filed with the u.s. equal employment opportunity commission against parker over racist comments. another said that ward went to the station's human resources office, quote, after working with me one time. general manager jeffrey marks says those claims were examined and dismissed. the station let flanagan go in 2013. >> after many incidents of his anger coming to the fore, we dismissed him. and he did not take that well. >> reporter: abc news says it received a 23-page fax from someone claiming to be flanagan. the writer said that he was

so far the station manager says that there is really no merit to these complaints. hatever the problem was that he had in his head, it wasn't enough to just kill9: these people. he then had to start posting about it. >> yeah. in those posts he accused her of issuing racist comments against him and he accused adam ward of on filing some sort of a complaint with human resources. we're continuing to follow the story. peter doocy just arriving at the scene. peter, thank you. we're still awaiting the press conference to start from the sheriff's department. we'll bring you back there again live immediately when that happens. in the meantime the suspected shooter did not appear to want to hide his identity, alelegedl sending a 23-page fax to abc news in new york and posting several videos of the shooting online. this is earlier file video of the shooter doing reporter standups when he worked in florida, i believe. as peter mentioned, posting messages on twitter this morning. he makes accusations of racism. here they are. more troubling, he posted video from his vantage poin

richard: leon, so much emotion at the vigil, it also here at the station, the television station, where there is a memorial now with flowers and balloons and other mementos. two young ambitious people, two young lives lost. >> ♪ amazing grace richard: for the people of roanoke -- >> so tragic, just at a loss for words. richard: this is a time to mourn and weep. >> i was devastated. there is just no understanding it. ripper alison parker and photographer adam ward. me 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

>> all we, we believe he is a disgruntled employee of the tv station. i say, this is not some terrorism act. this is an issue, a disgruntled employee. so unfortunately probably knew both of the victims and this was a deliberate -- they were doing a live broadcast at the bridgewater marina. they were interviewing the head of economic development talking about bringing tourism to the submit mouth taken lake region. a region i know well. i was jaws there two weeks ago. that is region where we rent waverunners and ski boats. such a beautiful area. this is such a tragedy. gregg: there is governor terry mcauliffe talking about the bucolic setting where this shooting took place live on television this morning that claimed lives of two young journalists. the governor seems to have the best information of anybody. head of the state police has been keeping him informed as if he is almost, getting a blow by blow description from law enforcement saying that they have the license number, they're behind him. the suspect who in a car, they're chasing him at this hour.

he was a former reporter at the same station. >> the station tweeted this message in memory of the victims. we love you, allison and adam. cbs 2 has this report. >> reporter: viewers were watching as wdbj 7 morning reporter allison parker was interviewing a member of the chamber of commerce at 6:45 this morning and then suddenly several gun shots were freezing the video, but next the camera falls and then captures this chilling image of the believed gunman. shortly after the station confirmed the news on air. >> allison parker, 24 adam 27 if you're just joining us, our news 7 wdbj 7 morning team fatally shot this morning while out covering a feature story at bridgewater plaza at smith mountain lake. >> the augusta county sheriff's office identified the shooter as reporter vester lee flanigan and worked at the station for about a year. someone using the name posted video of social media that appears to show the actual shooting shot by the gunman himself. the post also includes accusations of racism against the reporter and conflict with the cameraman. >> there were a lot of good things happ

the gunman is believed to be a disgruntled former station employee. the associated press identifying him as vester flanagain also known as bryce williams. reports that suspected shooter has killed himself. fox news is working to independently confirm the death. we know someone posted a video on a twitter feed that appeared to be taken from the killer's advantage point. 24-year-old reporter alison parker and 27-year-old photographer adam ward were killed. david lee miller is live in new york with more. >> harris, the legal name of the shooter is vester flanagain but was known as bryce williams for his air name. according to reports he moments interstate 66 in virginia. we know williams worked in a number of stations greenville, savannah georgia, san francisco, and midland, texas. and in san francisco he said i was hired as a production assistant, liked and able to come back after the texas fiasco, no explanation on what that was. it was a great experience, people were supportive but there were quoting him now some crazies. it is believed he recorded the

the station paying tribute to their facebook page. at they had to say during the coverage this morning. >> two friends, two co-workers, families have lost their daughter, their son, fiancee, girlfriend, you know? these two were more than what you saw here on tv. they were much, much more. and their family and we have lost two members of our family. >> again, we are waiting for the update from the franklin county sheriff's office and we have the angles covered for you. joining sme the chief investigative reporter and jon, jonathan, what more have we learned about the work history of flanagan? people would be surprised to learn he has been disassociated with this newsroom for two years. >> it's the general manager come out and said there have been a lot of issues. he was hired two years ago. worked about eight months at station and let him go, that he was very difficult to work with, this according to the general manager and made climbs that racial statements had been made about him in the newsroom. the general manager said they investig

>> you mean in the moscow station or -- >> in russia in general. >> i think the moscow station was maybe 12, 15 people tops. >> so -- [inaudible] spying on russia. >> on russia. there were not a lot. there were, obviously, thousands of people at headquarters and thousands of people working the satellites in other means. but right there in the heart of darkness on the streets of moscow, a dozen people. >> i was wondering how you would compare tolkachev to earlier such technical agents, people like oleg penkovsky? >> i mentioned these other agents in the beginning of the book, and the question was how do they compare. there were really great, productive spies in the cold war, and and there were lots that were certainly very helpful but maybe not in the top level. i would put tolkachev in the very, very highest level of the top two or three spies. and here it is 2015 i'm telling you this story which ended in 1985. so it's been a long time. tolkachev's a spy that almost nobody's ever heard of, but he was hugely important. and i wrote this book based on the original documents that i got from

but he was living right across the street from the station. that made many people feel very uncomfortable here. >> thank you for that, adam. go down to hallie jackson also on this story for us. two things that jumped out from the press conference, one as we were just discussing, the employment history and the situation that was con fronted this. speak to that in conjunction with the reporting you've been doing. if you want to comment on the other pertinent information about the murder itself, the news director saying there was an earlier hit on air appearance by the reporter around k5 10 in the morning. was possible this killer took from that that he could come do this attack. >> let's start with that second peace. they last typically for about two hours. you'll see the news crew go out, do a hit in the first half hour, another in the second and then in the second hour of the show as well. that's what he was speaking to. it's possible that somebody may have been able to get to that location. again, we don't know where vester flanagan was coming

vester lee flanagan, a former tv reporter with an embattled past with the local tv station. leading to the premeditated killing of two of its employees. >> 24-year-old alison parker was a sharp and bubbly reporter who covered everything from bacon fest to a recent special on child abuse. >> experts say neglect is a form of child abuse that is just as damaging as physical or sexual abuse. >> reporter: she had just moved in with boyfriend, chris hurst, an anchor at the same station. >> we would go to station events. appearances together. as reporter and anchor. not as boyfriend and girlfriend. but we couldn't even really hide it there either. because we were so in love. >> reporter: adam ward, her cameraman, was a big personality known for his sense of fun. >> they were a team. they worked together over a year. day in, day out. >> reporter: crossing paths years earlier at the same station, the former colleague who would eventually take their lives. >> talking oil prices. >> reporter: flanagan a reporter who struggled in small tv markets around the country for years unable to wo

the community. live withid joins us a tv stations leader spoke out this afternoon. reporter: so much emotion today. even now people are arriving here at the front of the television station where the have this memorial. a continues to grow. we learned new information about vester flanigan. outside the station there have been hugs and embraces. the memorial grows by the hour. dealing with the loss of reporter allison parker and photographer adam ward. we learned the search of flanigan's apartment turned up evidence of a long-term plan of the shooting. ,olice said they found a gun ammunition, and disguising his car. the station manager says flanigan, a former reporter at the station, had anger performance issues and was ordered to enroll in a employee assistance program. one day later, this is still a difficult time. together, but one for the front of the other. neverg our loss, forgetting allison and adam and realizing that they died in the performance of their duty and we're not going to shark that duty as we go forward. >> you wake up and hope it was a bad nightmare.

the station manager, mr. fries. >> jeffrey marks. >> he did everything he could as an employer to meet the needs and address the complaints of the individual up to the point where he was so concerned about his employment he had the police come by and escort him out. he did everything he could do. it was difficult to it predict. now we have a killer who posted what he did on twitter and facebook. 38 years of police work never seen this. >> you mentioned jeffrey marks. he is the station manager in roanoke. he was an amazing pillar of strength through the entire ordeal. he spoke about bryce williams, a short time ago and we'll play it. >> vester was an unhappy man. we employed him as a reporter. and he had talent and had experience. but he had been out of the business when he was hired here. he quickly became, and gathered the reputation of someone who was difficult to work with wouldn't you say joe? and he was sort of looking out for people to say things that he could take offense to. and eventually after many i

the number of the tv station for whom the victims work.ontinue for the victims and families. >>> in nfl news, a grand jury charged ahmad brooks with sexual battery. a woman claims she was assaulted by him. if convicted, he will face up to six months in jail. his future remains uncertain. brooks will not participate in saturday's game. the grand jury also indicted ray mcdonald of raping of same woman at the same party. mcdonald, who is not on an nfl team, is facing up to eight years in prison. >>> on to the track where the battle for the world's fastest man continues today. usain bolt faces off at the world championship. he is ready to show it off. in the next heat, gatlin posted the third fastest time of the year. pretty impressive. especially seeing he actually slowed down before the finish. a few days ago, bolt edged gatlin out. today's race could be as close. >>> on to some fun finish here. the football players at smu had a little fun with the special guest yesterday. former president george w. bush stopped by to send time with the guys

we just had our community center re-open, the fire station that was closed and the firemen who were iners for nine years, finally got a station. we see businesses not coming back like they should. we had a ground-breaking for cbs, one of the major corporations to come back to our city. and we're looking forward to others coming back. we have one grocery store on the north side. the young man who did it spent his life savings to do it. but we have a lot of struggles still in the lower ninth ward. >> if people wanted to help rebuild mount neebo, how do they do that? >> they can go to our website and the premiere foundation and we have a go fund me site also. >> your website mount neebo is? >> it's mount neebo bible baptist church no dot biz. >> reverend, thanks so much for your time, our thoughts and prayers are with you and your congregation. >> thank you, reverend sharpton. >>> coming up, tomorrow nigh interview with new orleans mayor mitch landrieu, hear his memories from ten years ago, the latest in the rebuilding effort and the resilience of the people of the big easy. and experienc

both were in relationships with colleagues at the station. alison's boyfriend and anchor christ hurst tweeting we were together almost nine months. it was the best nine months of our lives. we wanted to get married. we just celebrated her 24th birthday. one other person was shot in the incident and is in the hospital. the fbi is helping local law enforcement with the investigation. out of an abundance of caution, the nypd is increasing security outside of tv stations here in new york city including wabcment police have identified the person of interest as vester flanagan. he is a former reporter at that tv station that went by the professional name bryce williams. on top of that, sometime between last night and this morning abc news received a fax from someone who says he is bryce williams. it is a lengthy document, 23 pages long. the network turned the document over to authorities. more disturbing than that, bryce williams as apparently posting to facebook and twitter including a video of the actual shooting which we are not showing. dave? >>