A video appearing to show the shooting of two journalists during a live TV broadcast has been posted to online social media accounts, seemingly by the shooter himself.

Police later confirmed the gunman, named as 41-year-old Vester Lee Flanagan, had died after shooting himself.

The graphic video showing the deaths of Alison Parker and Adam Ward was posted to Facebook and Twitter accounts, which have both since been suspended.

The footage shows a gun in the filmer's hand, pointing at Ms Parker and then opening fire.

The Twitter account used to post the video also included the comments: "I filmed the shooting see Facebook", "Adam went to [human resources] on me after working with me one time!!!" and "Alison made racist comments. EEOC report filed. They hired her after that???"

The shooting occurred at about 6.45am EDT (10.45am GMT) during an interview being broadcast live from Bridgewater Plaza, a Virginia shopping plaza.

Live footage broadcast by WDBJ as the shooting took place appeared to show the suspect's face

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe said in interview on Washington radio station WTOP that Flanagan was a disgruntled current or former station employee.

ABC News said it had received a 23-page fax from someone who identified himself by the name Bryce Williams, reported to be an alias used by Flanagan at WDBJ.