ABC News publishes parts of ‘suicide note’ from Virginia shooting suspect
ABC News has published excerpts from a 23-page “suicide note’’ from the suspect in the killing of two WDBJ journalists Wednesday morning on live TV.
WDBJ reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward died in the shooting.
In the selections published by the news outlet, the author says the church shooting in Charlestown, South Carolina sent him “over the top,’’ and he expresses admiration for the Virginia Tech and Columbine shooters. He says he suffered racial discrimination, sexual harassment, and bullying at work, and was attacked for being a gay, black man.
The suspected shooter, Vester Lee Flanagan II, who was known on-air as Bryce Williams, made similar allegations on social media after the attack. WDBJ’s general manager, Jeff Marks, denied them in a live broadcast after the shooting.
“He quickly … gathered a reputation as someone who was difficult to work with,’’ Marks said. “He was sort of looking out for people to say things that he could take offense to. Eventually, after many incidents of his anger coming to the fore, we dismissed him [about two years ago]. And he did not take that well.’’
Twitter and Facebook have removed Flanagan’s accounts, which included a first-person video of the shooting.
According to ABC News, a man claiming to be Williams had contacted the station in recent weeks about pitching a story. After the shooting, the station received the faxed manifesto and then a call from a man who said his legal name was Vester Lee Flanagan II and that he had just shot two people. Flanagan killed himself Wednesday morning following a police pursuit.
Read the full ABC report here.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com