The man allegedly responsible for killing a reporter and cameraman during a live segment, and injuring another, cited homophobia and racism for his actions, according to media reports.
A 23-page manifesto allegedly written by Vester Lee Flanagan II (also known as Bryce Williams), was faxed to ABC News on Aug 26, 2015, just hours after Flanagan killed reporter Alison Parker, 24, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27, while they were reporting live on WDBJ in Virginia. A third person, Vicki Gardner, was injured and is reportedly recovering in hospital.
Flanagan worked at WDBJ from 2012 to 2013. He died of self-inflicted gun wounds at a Virginia area hospital according to CNN.
In the letter, Flanagan wrote that he was attacked for being a gay, black man.
“Yes, it will sound like I am angry…I am. And I have every right to be. But when I leave this Earth, the only emotion I want to feel is peace . . .” he wrote, according to ABC. He also claimed he was sexually harassed.
ABC, after submitting the document to police, described the letter as “rambling.” Flanagan goes on to say that the June 17 shooting of nine black parishioners in a church in Charleston, SC, by a white gunman, was the “tipping point.”
On his Twitter feed, which was disabled by Twitter after he posted hand-held footage of the attack, Flanagan accused one of the victims of making racist comments.
According to Buzzfeed, staff at WDBJ recalled Flanagan as being an unhappy man and described complaints of racial discrimination as being “fabricated.”
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