Deadly shooting during live TV news report

[not_nadine]

CBS journalists shot and killed during live broadcast in Virginia - Yahoo News


The suspected gunman was identified as Vester Flanagan, a 41-year-old former WDBJ-TV reporter who went by the name Bryce Williams on air.



The gunman killed himself

 

[Spideyman]

Police say he is still alive and in critical condition.

 

[staropeace]

This is so fecking shocking! I could not believe what I was seeing.

 

[king family fan]

Very sad.

 

[not_nadine]

Here he is

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[Lily Sawyer]

This is so fecking shocking! I could not believe what I was seeing.

You got that right.
The NYPD - over 400 miles away - has augmented security around television stations in NYC as a result of this.

Terrorism is awful to begin with, but it's even more horrible when it's a homegrown jihad.

 

[Pucker]

I heard a guy on the radio this morning liken the video -- the part where the camera falls over -- to a certain horror movie of not-so-recent vintage that originally marketed itself as "found documentary footage." This is an old argument, but I can't help but wonder how much easier it is to become "detached" from "reality" (jeez . . . that's a lot of quotes) when virtually everything you know comes to you through the same little screen.

There must be some reason that lunacy is becoming less and less shocking every time we see it.

Or is that just me?

 

[Out of Order]

Here he is

Spoiler

Spoiler

Oh my freaking word. That guy was taking his own video?!!

 

[Lily Sawyer]

I heard a guy on the radio this morning liken the video -- the part where the camera falls over -- to a certain horror movie of not-so-recent vintage that originally marketed itself as "found documentary footage." This is an old argument, but I can't help but wonder how much easier it is to become "detached" from "reality" (jeez . . . that's a lot of quotes) when virtually everything you know comes to you through the same little screen.

There must be some reason that lunacy is becoming less and less shocking every time we see it.

Or is that just me?

No, it's not just you. When the action(s) is repeated, there's a de-sensitization to something that's otherwise horrific that naturally occurs. That's when society should self-evaluate and question why we are now used to things like public shootings.

And then act swiftly and aggressively to rectify the situation.

 

[Lily Sawyer]

Oh my freaking word. That guy was taking his own video?!!

The cameraman got the shooter on vid before he died.

Not many murder victims can claim that act of heroism. It's just awful.

 

[not_nadine]

Oh my freaking word. That guy was taking his own video?!!

Yes and sent it to twitter




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.



View photo

.

(@bryce_williams/Twitter)

 

[Out of Order]

The cameraman got the shooter on vid before he died.

Not many murder victims can claim that act of heroism. It's just awful.

Check n_n's second spoiler in her post above, Lily.

 

[Lily Sawyer]

Ah - I see what you're saying. Yes, the shooter filmed what he was doing.

And posted it all to Twitter, like n_n said.

 

[Spideyman]

Sheriff has stated the suspect has died from self inflicted wounds.

 

[Pucker]

No, it's not just you. When the action(s) is repeated, there's a de-sensitization to something that's otherwise horrific that naturally occurs. That's when society should self-evaluate and question why we are now used to things like public shootings.

And then act swiftly and aggressively to rectify the situation.

This is exactly what bothers me about -- not just this particular instance -- the entire culture (for lack of a better word) that not only makes this kind of thing possible (easy), but also effectively yawns when it happens.

I don't think I did this here -- I'm pretty sure it was on another forum -- but after those horrific shootings in the church in South Carolina, I actually admonished a bunch of people for shedding "crocodile tears" over something they would only care about peripherally and -- even then -- only until "the next time."

And here it is: The next time.

I'm not particularly proud of acting that way. This kind of thing really does belong to everybody, if we're really living in a "society." But I'm starting to wonder if we really are . . . or if maybe we're all not like that boy in the bubble Paul Simon likes to sing about.

Wow . . . there are a lot of "reallys" in there.

 

[Out of Order]

Kill two people in cold blood, on live television, then post it on Twitter.........

Desensitized or not this one has upped the level of craziness in perhaps a disastrous way....You know what I mean?

 

[MadamMack]

Deadly shooting during live TV news report in Va. - CBS News

Will this ever stop?

No, it won't and I'm no longer surprised when I hear about them. I think they do it for the attention and they get plenty of it from everybody.

 

[Out of Order]

I'm going to go take the dog for a walk.........

 

[TheRedQueen]

For every whacked-out nut job who gets himself on the news for mishandling guns, there's hundreds, if not thousands of quietly responsible gun owners.

Guns were created as a defense mechanism, during a time when men and women were capable of responsibility and held themselves accountable. It's unfortunate that bad people have since turned an inanimate object into such a pariah.

Don't blame the inanimate object for the evils of men. Blame the man, and punish the evil accordingly.

 

[not_nadine]

After Shooting, Alleged Gunman Details Grievances in ‘Suicide Notes’ - Yahoo

Some of the article:


A man claiming to be Bryce Williams called ABC News over the last few weeks, saying he wanted to pitch a story, and wanted to fax information. He never told ABC News what the story was.

This morning, a fax was in the machine (time stamped 8:26 a.m.) almost two hours after the shooting. A little after 10 a.m., he called again, and introduced himself as Bryce, but also said his legal name was Vester Lee Flanagan, and that he shot two people this morning. While on the phone, he said authorities are “after me,” and “all over the place.” He hung up. ABC News contacted the authorities immediately and provided them with the fax.

“Why did I do it? I put down a deposit for a gun on 6/19/15. The Church shooting in Charleston happened on 6/17/15…”


“What sent me over the top was the church shooting. And my hollow point bullets have the victims’ initials on them."

t is unclear whose initials he is referring to. He continues, “As for Dylann Roof? You (deleted)! You want a race war (deleted)? BRING IT THEN YOU WHITE …(deleted)!!!” He said Jehovah spoke to him, telling him to act.

Later in the manifesto, the writer quotes the Virginia Tech mass killer, Seung Hui Cho, calls him “his boy,” and expresses admiration for the Columbine High School killers. “Also, I was influenced by Seung–Hui Cho. That’s my boy right there. He got NEARLY double the amount that Eric Harris and Dylann Klebold got…just sayin.'"