i talked to two people who worked with the shooter vester flanigan at two stations. one is wdbj in roanoke and another worked with him at wtoc in savannah, georgia. both of the former employees told me he was a troubled employee and trouble getting along with people. that he was struggling as a reporter. we know he was fired from wdbj for performance related issues. one of the former employees of the station said on the day he was fired in february of 2013, they had to bring police in to escort him out. he was agitated and made threats. we also have found out in the year 2000 he filed a lawsuit against another former station of his. wtwc in tallahassee, florida. that lawsuit alleged racist mistreatment toward him. he alleged he was called a "monkey" by an executive producer at the station. there were other racist epithets and other things directed toward him. clearly this man was a disgruntled former employee of two televisions stations, including one here where the two deceased journalists worked. alison and miguel. >>> let's turn our attention to the victims of the

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. you check your phone and your like this is real. it is this really tough. >> trying to forgive. that's up and so violent and evil happened. reporter: look at all those balloons. employees at the station al

vester flanigan shot them while they were on the air live in virginia. he was eventually caught along interstate 66 near markham and later died at a hospital. brad bell is live with the latest of what we learned about flanigan today. it seems that every hourly goes by your nine -- we are learning a new wrinkle about this guy. reporter: and none of it is pretty. the station general manager confirming that vester flanigan's time here was so troubling he was ordered to seek counseling. his behavior did not improve and he was fired. on the way out the door the general manager said flanagan essentially made a red against the station -- made a threat against the station but never thought he returned to the sort of violence we saw yesterday. the memorial continues to grow. bring flowers and food as though to the home of a friend after the death in the family. >> it hits too close to home. i felt like i needed to be here to see it. reporter: the staff says it is appreciated, especially today. >> i think the reality is setting in. thatter: the reality allison par

vester flanigan went to a federally registered gun store, bought the gun, went through a background check, passed the background check. what could have prevented this? >> well, you're correct. and it's not clear, frankly, as george said that anything could have prevented this, but gun control advocates and people like andy parker would say that things can be done. first of all, 33,000 americans die every year of gunshot wounds. that's accidents, suicides, and also homicides. a harvard researchers estimated that our firearm homicide rate in the u.s. is seven times that of canada. people like andy parker and governor mccaul are saying ian if there are small things, we should do them. number one, universal background checks. there are still guns sold in this country, private sales, where there are no background checks conducted. >> gun shows. >> we should point out, not the case of vester flanigan. >> he bought is legally, passed a background check, it is true. here's something else that advocates are talking about. in california there is a gun violence restraining order. it's kind of like a

reporter: the shooting of allison and cameraman adam ward by their colleague vester flanigan has reignited the debate. >> it breaks my heart. every time you hear about these incidents it is one more argument or why we need to reduce gun violence. reporter: republicans see it differently. >> people are the problem, not so much guns. reporter: republicans are closely aligned with gun rights supporters and despite recent massacres like sandy hook in 2012, the national rifle association has seen its numbers swelled by 500,000 in the last two years. it now says it has five members -- 5 million members. the nra is one of the top political spenders. it spent $3 million on lobbying and more than $28 million on informal political spending. even if gun-control measures managed to pass a democratic senate, they have no chance of getting through today's republican house of representatives. in the meantime, the statistics continue to shock. so far this year more than 8000 people have died from gun violence in the u.s.. president obama pushed hard, but failed to restrict the sale of military-style assau

>> reporter:in an emotional plea, vester flanigan's junior's cousin and a friend he went to area, are apologizing on the victims.saying this horrible tragedy is just as much a shock to them as it is for everyone else. - it's a shock to everyone >> reporter:visibly shaken, it was hard for vester flannigan junior's loved ones to acknowledge today's double homicide. >>- our condolences to the family of alison parker and adam ward >> reporter:flanagan's family says they gardner, the woman that was being interviewed at the timewho is now recovering. >> reporter:all of this while they try to sort through their own emotions. >>- we're grieving as well. we just need our privacy. >> reporter:flanagan grew up on this block. neighbors say the family is well respected, and the 41 year old never showed any signs of mental health issues. >> reporter:neighbors say flanagan's father is having a tough time. >> - he goes out of his way to make sure the block is safe, so to see that his own son did something like this is a complete shock. >> reporter:this very tight knit community is now offering the fl

vester flanigan fired 17 shots at them. investigators believe the attack was well planned.indication of what his plan was after the shooting. in writings found, police say it's clear he identified with mass murderers and even the 9/11 hijackers. alison parker's father says gun control is his personal mission. he said gun laws need to change. he has the support of the virginia governor, mcca. parkers father says this change isn't about taking people's guns. >> all we want to do is keep crazy people from getting guns. there's got to be a way to do it. i'm going to dig down in the weeds and start to learn the process. somebody's got the answer for this. >> parker called out several virginia politicians for not taking a stronger stance on gun control following the deadly shooting. >>> the license plate reader police used to spot his car is now the subject of a law in fairfax county. aclu doesn't have a problem with police using the readers. the way they store the information they collect is an invasion of privacy. the police pushed to have the lawsuit thrown out. >>> tragedy in

and the suspect just identified to nbc news as vester flanigan.uit. what else do we know? >> and you know, just a moment ago, you showed, matt, a still picture. i want to go back to that. this is an important piece of evidence. apparently after the cameraman has been shot, as he's coming down to the ground, his camera is turned side ways and the picture is on its side. that is apparently the image of the man that police believe fired these shots, six to eight rounds. they believe he is still armed. they've been pursuing him on a couple of interstate highways. the governor of virginia says that he's a disgruntled former employee of the station and that they believe an arrest is imminent. all of this happened at about 6:45 this morning at a shopping center about 25 miles southeast of roanoke. a reporter was broadcasting on the air interviewing the director of a local chamber of commerce about tourism when gunshots rang out, from behind where the cameraman is stand being. we're freezing the image at this point and not showing the entire sequence on t

. >>> investigators say that vester flanigan fired 17 shots during his attack.dners said to be in good condition. >>> tropical storm erica is headed for the coast. it could hit the sun sign say as early as monday. now it's back to lockup. >>> due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised. >> 90% of prison life is boring. it's that other 10% that we worry about as producers, the safety of the crew. we take great precaution to make sure that we can do everything possible to protect our crews. sometimes they're going to wear stab vests. other times they're followed by a group of correctional officers for protection. >> but there are some things you can't protect against. there's a particular type of prison assault described to "lockup" crews over and over again. the nature of this assault is not only disturbing, it's disgusting. we warn you what you're about to hear is extremely graphic. >> the common way the inmates assault staff now is, what we call gassing. where the inmate will throw a liquid substance on an officer, usually what the inmates use is

. >> 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 happening for adam and allison. oh, wow she's a rock star. she has really done a wonderful job reporting, filling in and organize, you throw anything from that girl and she could do it. >> parker graduated from james madison university and just moved in with chris anchor chris hurst who tweeted this morning being "she was the most radiant woman i ever met and for some reason she loved her back. she loved her family, parents and her brother. cameraman ward was engaged to producer melissa ott who was in the control room watching at the shooting happened. >> she had gotten another job. >> president and general manager of the station jeff marx described the scene as chaos as state police block off the road

. >> reporter:i'm on garnet drive in the neighborhood where the gunman vester flanigan's parents live. neighbors i talked to are shocked to hear the news. >>"if something like that happened to my child, i'd just be devastated" >> reporter:neighbors i spoke with say flanagan's parents are kind and active in the community. >>"i was so surprised the guy is just such a nice person, the dad is, i never saw the son." >> reporter:vester flanigan the second. lived in this neighborhood years ago. and another neighbor. who who kenw him couldn't imagine him commiting such a horrific crime. >>"the person that i know that lived here 3 years ago. i didn't see any anger issues, i don't know that person." >> reporter:rui pimentel describes flanagan as quiet. and says he didn't leave his home often. >>"he was soft spoken he was a gentle giant nice to me and my family." >> pam: we are also learning more about the two television employees that were shot and killed. catherine heenan is here with more on the victims. >> catherine: >> our hearts go out to family of allison parker and ward. >> reporter: tec

. >> the manhunt quickly focused on vester flanigan who went by bryce williams on tv. he was fired. in may of 2013 he sued for discrimination. the case was dismissed but he still apparently held a grudge. he tweeted about the reporter claiming alison made racist comments and saying of the cameraman, adam went to hr on me after working with me one time. police caught up to flanigan. he shot himself and later died in the hospital. jeff marks, the general manager of wdbj said flanigan was a troubled employee from the start. >> how early on did you know he wasn't fitting in here? >> a few months into his employment i think we knew he was a live wire. but do you ever really see somebody taking up arms and getting and throwing their own life away in order to prove some sort of point with violent overkill. >> reporter: shortly after the shooting, someone faxed a 23-page suicide note to abc news. he allegedly praised the mass shootings at virginia tech and columbine and called wednesday's shoot shootings retaliation for the shootings in south carolina and said i've been a human powder keg f

vester lee flanigan went by the on air name of brice williams and fled the murder scene driving 175 miles before turning the gun on himself and taking his own life. we have live team coverage. but, first we go to fox news correspondent rick leventhal, rick? >> former coworkers describe him as off kelter, bizarre and threatening. the sheriff called him disturbed and his former bosses called called 911. he became agitated slamming doors and threatening people. 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, becau

it all now paints a clear picture of who vester flanigan was and what may have led him to commit a terrible suggesting he planned to make it out alive. >> reporting live in the news room -- >> reporter: this morning, evidence of a get away plan found inside his rental car. a search warrant revealing he had a wig, a shawl, sunglasses along with multiple license plates, a to-do list, six magazines and a pistol. the gunman was unable to evade police, shooting himself as they closed in on him. this is video of his one-bedroom apartment obtained on nbc. you can see the refrigerator covered with photos of himself. in 2000, he was fired from a station in northern florida. >> i was concerned about just his mental status and whether he needed counseling. >> reporter: in 2013, he caused a scene after being fired from wdbg lashing out. >> he handed a wooden cross to the news director and said you'll need this. >> prior to being let go, documents show co-workers made them feel threatened and uncomfortable. the station's manager said flanigan was asked to seek mental health assistance. >> i'm not saying

flanigan's connection to the bay area. >> reporter: we are piecing more together on the shooter in this case. vester flanagan grew up in oakland attending skyline high school graduated from sf state in 1995 with a degree in radio and tv and flanagan actually worked here at kpix 5 in 1996 as a production assistance and before that he was an intern in our newsroom. >> reporter: he tried to make a career out of video broadcasting but there's one we can't show on air this morning's shooting from the shooter's point of view posted on twitter this morning. vester flanagan went by the name bryce williams on air. these are some of the clips he posted on his twitter account from his years in television. a linkedin account attached to bryce williams says he worked as a news reporter and haing ngor several markets most -- anchor in several markets most recently the same virginia station as victims. his 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 park