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A gunman with a grudge shot two journalists who were ex-colleagues and filmed the atrocity, before posting the footage on Facebook.

Killer Vesper Lee Flanagan - who worked at the WDBJ7 station under the name Bryce Williams - shot himself a short time after the footage was uploaded, police have confirmed.

He was said to be in a critical condition, but police later confirmed he had died of his injuries.

Williams, 41, appeared to have uploaded footage of the shooting on his Twitter and Facebook accounts.

The 20-second clip shows the shooter approaching reporter Alison Parker before pointing a gun at her.

She is then seen running away as shots are fired.

A series of accusations were also posted on Twitter before the footage was uploaded.

He accused Ms Parker, 24, of making racist comments and said Mr Ward had made a report to the station's HR department about him.

He then chillingly said: "I filmed the shooting see Facebook". The accounts have since been deleted.

Bryce was at one stage being chased by six police cars but appeared to have posted the footage while under pursuit.

Officials say he shot himself at 11.25am around four-and-a-half hours after the shooting.

The gunman's 'manifesto was later revealed, with the killer claiming that the Charleston church shooting carried out by Dylan Roof 'sent me over the top'.

In it, he says: "MY NAME IS BRYCE WILLIAMS" in capital letters.

He adds that his legal name is Vester Lee Flanagan II before saying: "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."

"As for Dylann Roof? You [deleted]! You want a race war [deleted]? BRING IT THEN YOU WHITE …[deleted]!!!"

Alison and photographer Adam Ward, 27, were both killed while working on an interview for the WBDJ channel in Moneta, Virginia, this morning.

WDBJ reporter Alison was interviewing Vicki Gardner about a local news story at approximately 6.45am local time when the shots rang out.

Ms Gardner was shot in the back and was taken to hospital suffering serious injuries.

Both women screamed as the camera fell to the floor at approximately 6.45am local time.

(Image: Twitter)

The TV audience then gets the briefest glimpse of a man, who police believe is the gunman, appearing to pointing a gun towards the downed cameraman.

The broadcast before it cuts back to a stunned Kimberly McBroom in the studio.

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A man standing near the two women, dressed in dark clothing and holding what appears to be a gun, is briefly seen in the news clip, standing by the women.

He calmly steps away from the scene before the video cuts away.

Williams was a former employee of the station and was described an an 'experienced reporter' at the time he was hired.

The station is said to have received a 23-page fax from Williams yesterday which has now been handed over to police.

In a series of heartbreaking tweets, TV news anchor Chris Hurst said he had been in a relationship with Alison unknown to the viewers and the couple were planning to get married.

(Image: Facebook)

"We were together almost nine months," he wrote. "It was the best nine months of our lives. We wanted to get married. We just celebrated her 24th birthday.

"She was the most radiant woman I ever met. And for some reason she loved me back. She loved her family, her parents and her brother.

"This is unconscionable. But I WILL share her story because it is one full of life, dreams, love and amazing journalism.

"She just finished working on an incredible special on child abuse and it was fantastic. We will get through this and there will be justice. Your thoughts and prayers mean the world to me."

Announcing the deaths, WDBJ-TV's Mr Marks said: "It is my very, very sad duty to report that we have determined through the help of the police and our own employees that Alison and Adam died this morning shortly after 6.45 after the shots rang out."

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He continued to pay tribute during the sombre broadcast, in which station employees could be heard crying in the background.

Anchor Kimberly McBroom added: "These two were more than what you saw here on TV, they were much, much more.

(Image: Facebook)

(Image: Facebook)

The 24-year-old was described as the 'rock star of the station' by heartbroken colleagues who bravely continued to broadcast as news of their colleagues deaths came in.

Adam was engaged to station producer Melissa Ott, a producer at the station, who was in its control room when the shootings were broadcast.

It was thought to be her last day at the station, before she started a new job in North Carolina.

Adam planned to move with her, and there had been a leaving celebration earlier that morning.

Following the shooting several police forces around the country including in New York have increased security at TV stations.