8. Murders of Alison Parker and Adam Ward
In the early morning of August 26, 2015, two reporters were murdered on live television at 6:45am. Alison Parker and her cameraman, Adam Ward, were conducting a live interview that morning for the 50th anniversary of Smith Mountain Lake when suddenly eight shots are heard and the camera drops. For a moment the perpetrator holding a Glock 19 9mm pistol is shown on the scene. Both reporters died on scene. What later unfolded was a manhunt that lasted 5 hours as the police were in pursuit. The chase ended when the murderer Vester Lee Flanagan II, shot himself in the head. Flanagan had formerly worked at the station and had been fired years earlier for disorderly conduct. Apparently difficult to work with and emotionally volatile, he lashed out so violently when he was fired that the police had to be called in to escort him out. He claimed that he was fired due to racial discrimination and blamed Parker and Ward for him losing his job.
Discussion about this post