Two WDBJ7 Employees Shot & Killed; Suspected Shooter Kills Himself

A pair of television journalists at a CBS affiliate in Virginia were shot and killed during a live broadcast Wednesday morning, and authorities said the shooter, a former disgruntled employee at the station, shot himself after crashing his car on an interstate highway.

The suspected gunman, identified as Vester Flanagan, a 41-year-old former WDBJ-TV reporter who went by the name Bryce Williams on air, is in custody with "life-threatening injuries," police said.

The victims, WDBJ-TV reporter Alison Parker, 24, and Adam Ward, her 27-year-old cameraman, died shortly after the shooting, which occurred at approximately 6:45 a.m. at Bridgewater Plaza in Moneta, Va., near Smith Mountain Lake.

The gunman opened fire as Parker was interviewing Vicky Gardner, the head of the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce, live on the air. Gardner was shot in the back and taken to a hospital for surgery. She is listed in stable condition.

A chilling first-person video posted to a Twitter account belonging to Williams shows what appears to be him holding a gun behind Parker and Ward during their live shot, then firing three shots as Parker tries to flee.

"I filmed the shooting," Williams tweeted after alleging Parker had made "racist comments" about him.

The Twitter account has since been suspended as has a Facebook account belonging to someone with that name.