Update at 2:35 p.m. — Flanagan was pronounced dead at Inova Fairfax Hospital at 1:30 p.m., authorities said. Following the shooting this morning, he sent a suicide note to ABC News.
Update at 12:35 p.m. — Virginia State Police has issued the following statement:
“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.”
Update at 11:50 a.m. — WDBJ reports that Flanagan has shot himself on I-66 in Fauquier County (see below).
Earlier: The suspect in the murder of two television journalists near Roanoke this morning may be heading for the D.C. area.
A lookout for the suspect, Vester Lee Flanagan II, was broadcast to Arlington County Police earlier this morning. The lookout said the suspect was armed and dangerous and believed to be heading to the D.C. area.
An ARLnow.com reporter also overheard officers talking about the suspect and the possibility he may be heading to the area at a public event this morning.
According to various news reports, Flanagan is the suspect in the shooting death of WDBJ7 photographer Adam Ward and reporter Alison Parker during a live television broadcast this morning.
Flanagan is reported to be a former WDBJ7 reporter who went by the name Bryce Williams. Just after 11 a.m., a Twitter account associated with Flanagan posted accusations of workplace mistreatment along with two horrific first-person videos of the shooting.
Flanagan is described as a black male, 6’3″ tall and weighing 250 lbs. He was last seen driving a gray, 2009 Ford Mustang according to the police lookout, but some reports suggest he might have since switched vehicles.
#BREAKING: Man suspected of killing two WDBJ7 employees kills himself on I-66 in Fauquier Co. http://t.co/XLx3pS2I5X
— WDBJ7 (@WDBJ7) August 26, 2015
@nbcwashington #police on scene #I-66 #WDBJshooting pic.twitter.com/FTswU2i5R9
— NBC PHOTOG (@bforte22) August 26, 2015