PHOTO: US television station WDBJ7 identified the journalists killed as Alison Parker and Adam Ward. (Twitter: WDBJ7)
Two journalists for a local television station in the US state of Virginia have been shot dead during a live broadcast, by a disgruntled former employee who later shot himself and died in hospital after sustaining life-threatening injuries.
Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe said the gunman was a disgruntled former employee of the television station.WDBJ7 journalist Alison Parker, 24, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27, were shot at close range while conducting an on-air interview about 6:45am (local time).
The suspect was identified as Vester Flanagan, 41, according to a dispatcher for the Augusta County Sheriff's Department. Stills pulled from the television camera held by one of his victims helped identify the shooter.
Virginia state police pursued the suspect and in the late morning, reported that he was taken into police custody with critical injuries after apparently shooting himself.
"Troopers approached the vehicle and found the male driver suffering from a gunshot wound," police said.
He was transported to a nearby hospital where he subsequently died from the self-inflicted wounds, local officials said.
Parker was conducting an interview on a balcony at the lakeside Bridgewater Resort in the town of Moneta for WDBJ7's early morning newscast when the gunman seemingly closed in from behind.
Several shots were heard, as well as screams, as Ward's camera fell to the floor, capturing a fuzzy image of the gunman dressed in dark clothing.
on the balcony and pulling a hand gun on the crew.
Other tweets on the Twitter account claimed responsibility for the attack, saying "I filmed the shooting" and said that Parker had "made racist comments".
The accounts have since been taken down.
Vicki Gardner — the woman that Parker was talking to — was injured and is reportedly in surgery.
Ward's fiancee, Melissa Ott, a producer at the TV station, was in the control room when the shooting occurred and watched it unfold, station manager Jeffrey Marks told CNN.
Parker's boyfriend, WDBJ anchor Chris Hurst, said on Twitter that he and Parker were "very much in love", adding: "I am numb."
"We were together almost nine months. It was the best nine months of our lives. We wanted to get married," he said.
Governor McAuliffe said on Twitter that he was "heartbroken over [the] senseless murders".
PHOTO: A screenshot of the alleged gunman taken from the chilling footage portraying the murder of the two WDBJ7 journalists
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