TV slaying suspect shoots himself

UPDATE: From State Police -- "Shortly before 11:30 a.m., Virginia State Police spotted the suspect vehicle headed eastbound on Interstate 66. With emergency lights activated the Virginia State Police trooper initiated a traffic stop on the suspect vehicle. The suspect vehicle refused to stop and sped away from the trooper. Minutes later, the suspect vehicle ran off the road and crashed. The troopers approached the vehicle and found the male driver suffering from a gunshot wound. He is being transported to a nearby hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries.

The male driver is believed to be the same male subject who shot three people this morning in Franklin County during a television news interview."

NOON: The suspected shooter, Vester Lee Flanigan, also known as Bryce Williams, shot himself on I-66 in Fauquier County as police closed in, according to WDBJ. He is a former employee of the TV station.

11:40AM: There are multiple, unconfirmed reports that the suspect shot himself on U.S. 66 near Front Royal. But scanner traffic is conflicting. Police are centering on a vehicle in Middletown area off U.S. 66. Scanner said suspect is expected to be dangerous and armed.

11:20AM: New alert for suspect vehicle is being shared with officers. It's possible that the suspect switched cars north of Staunton. We've seen an unmarked police car speed north on U.S. 11 from Mount Crawford at 11:15, with lights on, so there may be some northern movement of this manhunt.

"Silver Chevy Sonic Tag VGM-5384 - Comes back to a rental vehicle out of Enterprise. Working to confirm color. Gray or silver..."

11AM: The arrest of the shooting suspect is imminent, says Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, according to the Associated Press. In Augusta County, daycares and private schools have been sending alerts to parents about the manhunt. Cell phone pings are leading law enforcement to Augusta County, but there is no public information yet that sounds definitive about a recent location.

10:50AM: State Police reports over the emergency scanner indicate that the suspect is thought to no longer be in the Verona area. But Verona schools are on modified lockdown. Police officials are still stationed at the Interstate 81 overpass at Verona visually monitoring traffic.

10:30AM: Police think the shooting suspect headed north on I-81 and is in Staunton or Waynesboro near I-64. Verona schools have been placed on a modified lockdown. More will be locked down if needed, said school officials.

ALERT: Here is the alert, confirmed by the Augusta County Sheriff's Office:

The suspect is Vester Lee Flanagan II, 41, of Roanoke, said Becky Coyner with dispatch and records at the Augusta County Sheriff's Office. Light skinned black male 6'3" 250lbs

WHAT HAPPENED THIS MORNING:

Two people working on a live TV shot were killed this morning at the Bridgewater Plaza near Smith Mountain Lake in Franklin County.

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe said the gunman was a “disgruntled” former employee at the station.

WDBJ7's photographer Adam Ward and reporter Alison Parker were killed in the incident, said the station. Ward was 27 years old. Parker, a JMU grad, just turned 24.

The site is also saying that Vicki Gardner, head of the SM

L Chamber of Commerce, was shot in the back and is in surgery.

A video posted on YouTube shows a WDBJ crew doing a live shot when it was apparently disrupted by gunshots. The station confirms a shooting took place during a live shot.

In the video, a glimpse of the gunman wearing black can be seen walking by the camera lens which has fallen to the deck of a balcony where the live broadcast was taking place.

The general manager of a Virginia TV station that saw a reporter and cameraman fatally shot during a live broadcast says his employees have been told to stay in the building, with police protection.

Jeffrey Marks, the president and general manager of WDBJ-TV, said hours after the Wednesday morning shooting that police advised employees to stay inside.

He told The Associated Press: "Police have advised us that as long as this person is on the loose, we should stay in the building. We have police protection."

Federal law enforcement is assisting in the manhunt, and federal officials say they have no indication that the shooting was connected to terrorism.

Marks says about 50 people work at WDBJ7.

He says: "It's the kind of place where it's all brothers and sisters. We're all just real heartbroken."

Marks says a nearby TV station that is normally a competitor is covering other, unrelated news and will share video with the station.

McAuliffe made the remarks during an appearance on the radio station's regular "Ask the Governor" show on Wednesday morning. Hours earlier, a reporter and a cameraman were killed on air as they worked on a live broadcast at a shopping center in Moneta, in central Virginia.

McAuliffe says that law enforcement personnel have a photo of the suspect and that he was known to the victims.

A spokesman for the Virginia TV station that saw two of its employees fatally shot on air describes the slain cameraman as WDBJ-TV's "go-to guy."

WDBJ spokesman Mike Morgan says 27-year-old Adam Ward was engaged to a producer at the station, Melissa Ott.

Morgan says Adam had been with the station for four years.

Morgan says: "Adam was our go-to guy. He pretty much was available to do anything that we asked. He did live shots during our morning show for several years."

Also killed in the incident — at 6:45 a.m. at a shopping center overlooking a manmade lake — was reporter Alison Parker, who was dating the station's 6 p.m. anchor, Chris Hurst.

No suspect has been identified, and no motive is known in the shooting.

Moneta is about 25 miles southeast of Roanoke.

-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.