The man who authorities said fatally shot a reporter and a
cameraman during a live report in Virginia this morning had
taken steps ahead of the attack, according to details from
investigators and the 23-page suicide note someone claiming to
be him sent to ABC News.
According to police, the shooter, Vester Lee Flanagan II, who
used the name Bryce Williams on air, died this afternoon as a
result of a self-inflicted gunshot hours after the attack on the
crew at the station that he was fired from two years ago.
Here is what is believed about his actions during the months
leading up to today's shooting.
According to the the letter that was faxed to ABC News this
morning, the author wrote that he was motivated by the massacre
at Charleston, SC church and took steps to buy a gun two days
later.
"Why did I do it? I put down a deposit for a gun on 6/19/15. The
Church shooting in Charleston happened on 6/17/15.�
The author wrote that: "what sent me over the top was the church
shooting. And my hollow point bullets have the victims�initials
on them."
"The church shooting was the tipping point�but my anger has
been building steadily... I𠐔e been a human powder keg for a
while�just waiting to go BOOM!!!!�
It was not clear how or when the gunman obtained the firearm
that was used in today's shooting.
Earlier in August
Virginia State Police Sgt. Rick Garletts said Flanagan, 41,
rented a Chevrolet Sonic earlier this month.
In the past few weeks, a man who identified himself as "Bryce
Williams" began contacting ABC News saying that he wanted to
pitch a story and requesting a fax number. He never told ABC
News about the content of the story.
6:43 a.m. Today
Garletts said that the Franklin County Sheriff's Office received
a 911 call about the gunshots heard fired at Bridgewater Plaza
near Smith Mountain Lake.
A WDBJ crew, made up of reporter Alison Parker and cameraman
Adam Ward, were doing a live interview at that location. The
footage was aired live, and viewers heard gunshots.
Ward's fiancee worked as a producer for the morning news program
and was in the station's control room when the footage aired.
Authorities said Flanagan fled the scene in his vehicle, a 2009
Ford Mustang.
8:26 a.m.
The 23-page suicide note was received at a fax machine in ABC
News' New York headquarters.
10 a.m.
The man identifying himself as Williams called ABC News again,
and introduced himself as "Bryce," but also said his legal name
was Vester Lee Flanagan, and that he shot two people this
morning. While on the phone, he said authorities are 弌fter me,�
and 弌ll over the place.�He hung up. ABC News contacted the
authorities immediately and provided them with the fax.
Just Before 11 a.m.
Police tracked the Mustang to the Roanoke regional airport.
Garletts said that Flanagan then left the airport today in the
Chevrolet Sonic.
11:09 a.m.
Williams began posting messages on his Twitter account,
detailing alleged grievances that he had with people he
identified as "Alison" and "Adam," noting that he posted a video
of the shooting on Facebook. It has since been taken down.
He posted a series of five tweets over the span of three minutes.
Just Before 11:30 a.m.
A Virginia state police trooper used a license plate reader,
which identified a Chevrolet Sonic traveling east on Interstate
66 as the one that had been rented to Flanagan.
"She followed the vehicle a short distance as troopers responded
to assist her before she activated her lights," Garletts said.
Backup arrived and she tried to get the vehicle to stop, using
emergency equipment like sirens, but Garletts said he sped away.
"It was only a minute or two later when the Sonic ran off the
road into the median," Garletts said.
Flanagan was found in the car by the trooper, suffering from a
self-inflicted gunshot wound and was airlifted to a hospital in
Fairfax.
1:30 p.m.
Flanagan died at the Inova Fairfax Hospital as a result of the
self-inflicted wound.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/virginia-shooting-suspect-vester-
flanagan-leading-air-attack/story?id=33339894
�
--
Illegal alien Barack Hussein Obama seizes on this tragedy caused
by one of his mentally ill homosexual, black ardent supporters,
to wave the flags for more gun control.
|
|