Everything we know about Vester L. Flanagan II aka Bryce Williams

On Wednesday afternoon Vester L. Flanagan, known professionally as Bryce Williams, shot and killed two former co-workers, WDBJ-TV journalists — on-air reporter Alison Parker and her photographer Adam Ward during a live taping. A third shooting victim, Vicki Gardner, is in stable condition. Flanagan died a few hours later from a self-inflicted gun wound.

As family, friends, and colleagues try to piece together and comes to terms with the horrible tragedy that happened, bits of information is coming out about the shooter.

As reported earlier, in a series of tweets, Flanagan went on a rant about allegedly being discriminated against claiming that the cameraman got him fired after reporting him to Human Resources. He also accused Parker of making racist comments but “still had her job”. He also film and posted on Facebook the moments leading up the shooting and the shooting itself.

Here’s a timeline of what has been released:

• At 6:45 am a live broadcast on tourism was interrupted when viewers saw the camera fall to the ground and heard gunshots.
• They believed the man to be former employee Bryce Williams
• Williams began his career as a news intern at KPIX-TV in 1993.
• His television career came to a halt in March 2000, when he was fired from his job at WTWC TV in Florida for “bizarre behaviour and threatening employees.”

• Williams has had a history of filling racism and discrimination claims and threatening his employees
• WDBJ7 hired him in 2012 as a multimedia journalist.
• In 2013, he was fired because his anger was becoming a problem. “Two years ago, we had to separate him from the company. We did understand that he was still living in the area,” WDBJ General Manager Jeff Marks said.
• After the shooting, Williams claimed on his Twitter feed that reporter Alison Parker had “made racist comments” and that photojournalist Adam Ward had made a complaint to the station’s human resources department.
• It has been speculated that Williams’ grudge against his two former colleagues may have been a motivating factor in the shootings.
• According to federal officials and the Augusta County Sheriff’s Department, his cell phone was tracked to locate him.
• ABC News says Williams called them weeks ago, saying he wanted to pitch a story and needed their fax information.
• Two hours after the shooting, at 8:26 a.m., ABC News received a 23-page fax from Flanagan, which it passed on to police.
• A little after 10a.m., the suspect called the station, introduced himself as Bryce, said that his legal name was Vester Lee Flanagan, and admitted that he shot two people earlier that morning.
  In the fax sent to the station, Williams writes that the murders he committed were his reaction to the racism of the Charleston church shooting.
• In what he calls “Suicide Note for Friends and Family,” he says he had endured racial discrimination, sexual harassment and ongoing bullying for being a gay, black man.
• Virginia state police spotted the suspect just before 11:30a.m
• Sheriff Bill Overton told reporters he died Wednesday afternoon of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
  Bryce Williams’ mental health has come into question, with Virginia’s governor Terry McAuliffe saying, “There are certain people who should not be entitled to a firearm.”

Source : Twitter