'Disgruntled' gunman kills himself after shooting dead two journalists on live TV
A "disgruntled" reporter killed himself after shooting dead two former colleagues on live TV in the US.
Alison Parker, 24, and Adam Ward, 27, were filming an interview in Moneta, Virginia when the suspect opened fire.
The shooter was quickly named by police as Vester Lee Flanagan II, who was previously employed by US TV network WDBJ7.
WDBJ7 said Flanagan, who used the on-air name Bryce Williams, was sacked in 2013 after gaining a reputation as "someone who was difficult to work with".
They added he had to be escorted from the building when he was dismissed after just a year of working there.
In a series of online posts after the shooting, Flanagan accused victim Alison Parker of making "racist comments" tweeting: "They hired her after that?"
He also claimed cameraman Adam Ward "went to HR on me after working with me one time".
First-hand video footage of the actual shooting was also posted to a Facebook account under the name Bryce Williams.
It shows the shooter approaching Alison and Adam before opening fire at point blank range.
Alison screams and runs off while Adam falls to the ground - his last camera footage capturing a still of the shooter.
Vicki Gardner, the woman the pair were interviewing, was also shot in the back.
She is said to have non-life threatening injuries after undergoing emergency surgery.
US network ABC News said they received a 23-page fax from Flanagan at some point overnight - hours before he carried out the shooting. In it, he says the Charleston church shooting in June, in which nine black people were killed, was his "tipping point".
The fax has been handed over to police.
It is thought Flanagan only knew where Alison and Adam were after watching live segments of the Mornin' show on TV.
After shooting the pair dead, he fled the scene in a rented car and was three hours away in Fauquier County when police caught up with him.
He refused to stop and sped away when officers tried to pull him over but minutes later his car ran off the road and crashed.
Franklin Sheriff Bill Overton confirmed Flanagan had shot himself and he died later in hospital.
He said he did not yet know what Flanagan's motive was but there would be a "long investigation as there were many components".
Both the victims were in relationships with co-workers at the TV station.
Adam was engaged to news producer Melissa Ott who witnessed the shooting from the control room on what was her last day of work there.
While Alison had just moved in with news anchor Chris Hurst and they planned to get married.