Moneta, VA – Official: Suspect In On-Air Fatal Shooting Dies At Hospital

Moneta, VA – A law enforcement official says the suspect in the on-air shooting of two TV station employees died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Franklin County Sheriff W.Q. “Bill” Overton Jr. gave that detail Wednesday during a news conference.

Officials say suspect Vester Flanagan died at 1:26 Thursday at a hospital in Northern Virginia. Authorities say the man killed his former co-workers — reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward — during a live broadcast for WDBJ-TV on Wednesday morning outside a shopping mall.

The third victim in the fatal shooting is in stable condition.

Chris Turnbull, spokesman for Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, Virginia, gave the condition of Vicki Gardner at a news conference Wednesday, several hours after the shooting.

Gardner is executive director of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce. She was being interviewed about tourism in the area when gunfire erupted, killing reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward of WDBJ-TV.

Officials say they don’t yet know a motive in the fatal on-air shooting of a reporter and a cameraman from a TV station in Virginia.

Authorities say they know the suspect, Vester Flanagan, was a former employee at the station, WDBJ-TV. They say they don’t know if the shooting was racially motivated. Flanagan was black and had formerly complained about racial bias at the station.