wdbj not far from here and wtoc in savannah, georgia. both of the former employees said he was a troubled employee and had trouble getting along with people and struggling as a reporter. he was fired for performance related issues. one of the former employees said on the day he was fired in february of 2013, they had to bring in police to escort him out. he was agitated and he made threats and some members of the news staff had to evacuate the building and go on lockdown. we found out in the year 2000, he filed a lawsuit against wtwc in tallahassee, florida. that lawsuit alleged racist mistreatment toward him. he alleged he was called a "monkey" by an executive prod e producer at the station and other epithets against him. that was settled out of court. he was a disgruntled former employee. >> turning attention to the victims of the crime. reporter alison parker and cameraman adam ward. and the woman parker and ward were interviewing for the show. the pair always maintained a cheerful can-do attitude. >> if i walked in the building in th

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 three-piece suit. i think it was because he had ambitions for greater things. he wanted to be an anchor, he wanted to move up to bigger markets. >> reporter: and in 1999, it looked like his ship had finally come in. here in the florida panhandle, tallahassee, the sunshine state's

. >> vester flanagan, wtoc news. >> bryce williams, a professional name for vester lee flanagan, up until about two years ago, an on-air reporter at had station. >> live in henry county, bryce williams, wdbj 7. >> reporter: management says he was fired after being warned he needed medical attention. minutes after those troubling tweets, virginia state police spotting the suspect's rental car. the suspect refusing to stop. instead running the vehicle off the road and crashing. a trooper approaches the car. >> she found flanagan suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. flanagan was flown from the scene to innova fairfax hospital where he died at approximately 1:30 p.m. today. >> the surviving victim vickie gardener is now in stable condition. this attack on live unedited tv has had its effect on the audience, too. flowers arriving for the victims all day long. jim avila, abc news, roanoke, virginia. >> just a nightmare there. you never know what's going on in someone's head. >> we noticed a tweet that caught our eye this evening, one from the station, someone at the station saying the

. >> vester flanagan, wtoc news. >> reporter: bryce williams, the professional name for vester lee flanagan. until two years ago, an on-air reporter at this station. >> live in henry county, bryce williams. >> reporter: management says he was fired after being warned he needed medical attention. minutes after those troubling tweets, virginia state police spotting the suspect's rental car. the suspect refusing to stop, instead, running the vehicle off the road and crashing. a trooper approaches the car. >> she found flanagan suffering from a self-inflektdicted gunshot wound. he was flown from the scene to a hospital where he died at approximately 1:30 p.m. today. >> reporter: tonight tributes pouring in for the reporter and the photographer who died at the scene. >> when i walk around wherever i'm at, alison or adam, it was a high point of my day because they always made me smile. >> reporter: tonight the surviving victim, vicki gardener, is in stable condition. this live attack on tv has had its effect on the audience, too, flowers for the victims arrives at the station all afternoon, georg

one with his wtoc, where re worked in the late '90s, and one here in roanoke.former employees of wdbj told me he was a hard person to work with, and the day he was fired, he apparently would not leave on his own. police had to be called in, news staff had to evacuate the newsroom. wheer told he was fired for performance-related issues, and he had had run-ins with other employees, the former employees at wtoc, in savannah, georgia, where he worked as he was startingous his tv career, told me he was kind of odd in his behavior, that he was a struggling reporter for the first for about the year that this person worked with him, and he on which made people feel uncomfortable. >>> we also know any filed a lawsuit with wtwc in tallahassee, florida, where he worked. there were racist-related allegations in that lawsuit. he accused a producer, and upper 1/2 4re6 management of calling him a monkey, said there were other racist incidents. that lawsuit, wolf, was settled out of court. >>> brian, we'll get back to you. i want to bring in drew griffin, who is also learning

one is wdbj here in roanoke and another worked with him at wtoc in savannah, georgia.mer employees told me he was a troubled employee and had trouble getting along with people. he was struggling as a reporter. we know he was fired from wdbj for performance related issues. one of the former employees said on the day he was fired, they had to bring in police to escort him out. he made threats and he was agitated. some members of the news staff had to actually evacuate the building and go on lockdown at that time. we also found out that in the year 2000 he filed a lawsuit against another former station of his. wtwc in tallahassee, florida. that lawsuit alleged racist mistreatment directed toward him. he alleged he was called a "monkey" by an executive proper du producer at the station. that was settled out of court. clearly this man was a disgruntled former employee. including the one here where the two deceased journalists worked. alison and miguel. >>> turning attention to the victims of the disturbing act. alison parker and adam ward and vicki gardner, being interviewe