Counterterrorism Cops Guarding NYC News Outlets After On-Air Virginia Shooting

Police in NYC used their hefty post-9/11 counterterrorism budget to deploy across the city after two Virgina-based TV reporters were shot and killed on the job Wednesday morning.

John J. Miller, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner for counterterrorism and intelligence, released the following statement at 10:30 a.m., as cops in Virginia continued their hunt for a suspect and a motive. (The suspect, a disgruntled employee, later shot himself in front of cops. More below.)

“Out of an abundance of caution the NYPD’s Counterterrorism Bureau, Critical Response Vehicles and Hercules Teams have been deployed to television news outlets in New York City. This was ordered following the shooting this morning in Virginia. While there is no indication of any threat to media outlets beyond this incident, we have provided an additional layer of security until we have a fuller understanding of the motive behind the Virginia incident.”

A spokesperson for the NYPD could not immediately provide a list of TV stations or general locations where local counterterrorism cops were gathering.

However, Anthony Quintano, social media manager for the TODAY Show, shared the following photo of NYPD officers clearing the show’s plaza in Rockefeller Center between 48th and 49th ”earlier than normal” on Wednesday.

Here’s the full story on the Virginia shooting, via Patch reporter Greg Hambrick.

A gunman who opened fire on a television reporter and her cameraman outside Roanoke, Va., killing them during a live interview, died after shooting himself in northern Virginia. State Police said he crashed his car during a chase and was found with a gunshot wound when troopers got to his car.

The shooter was pronounced dead at 1:26 p.m. at Inova Fairfax Hospital due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to authorities.

A state trooper identified the vehicle suspected in the case shortly before 11:30 a.m. as it headed east on Interstate 66. The driver would not pull over for police, according to Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller.

“Minutes later, the suspect vehicle ran off the road and crashed,” she said. “The troopers approached the vehicle and found the male driver suffering from a gunshot wound.”

The alleged shooter has been identified as Vester Lee Flanagan, according to the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office. Flanagan was a former employee with WDBJ, in Roanoke, VA. He reported under the name Bryce Williams.

The victims have been identified as Alison Parker, 24, and Adam Ward, 27.

Ward was the cameraman during a live segment for the morning broadcast regarding tourism at Bridgewater Plaza at Smith Mountain Lake. Parker was interviewing a business leader, who was wounded in the attack.

Facebook and Twitter accounts attributed to Bryce Williams showed the shootings from the point of view of the shooter. The accounts, which were quickly suspended Wednesday morning, also included statements critical of the victims.

ABC News reportedly received a faxed 23-page document allegedly from Bryce Williams following the shootings. The news outlet reported that it had turned the document over to authorities.

Vicki Gardner, head of the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce, was shot in the back during the shooting and is in surgery, according to the Roanoke Times.

A video of the broadcast shows the reporter interviewing Gardner when gunshots are heard. The camera falls to the ground and cries are heard. Patch has chosen not to post that video.

Parker had recently moved in with her boyfriend, WDBJ anchor Chris Hurst.

“I am numb,” Hurst wrote in messages on Twitter, noting that Parker had recently celebrated her birthday. “She worked with Adam every day. They were a team.”

Ward was engaged to a producer at the television station.

Jeff Marks, the general manager of WDBJ, called Flanigan “an unhappy man,” during the noon newscast. “He had a reputation as someone difficult to work with,” he said.

Flanigan was fired in 2013 due to anger issues, Marks said. Complaints made by Flanigan after he was fired were dismissed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to Marks.