Crime & Safety
TV Shooter's Car Searched: Ammo, Wig, 3 License Plates, Stamped Letters Found
After killing two journalists on live television, Vester Lee Flanagan was driving on Interstate 66 when he shot and killed himself.

Items in the Roanoke television shooter’s car suggested he had plans beyond killing a reporter and cameraman on live television in Moneta, Va. on Wednesday morning.
Among the items found in his car: A briefcase with three license plates inside, a black hat, a wig, shawl, umbrella and sunglasses, a loaded pistol, along with six magazines and 9mm ammunition.
And this: an iPhone, likely the one used to video himself killing the journalists before posting his deeds on Twitter and Facebook.
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Hours after the on-air shooting, Vester Lee Flanagan killed himself with a gunshot to the head after police caught up with him on Interstate 66 in Fauquier County, heading in the direction of Washington, D.C.
WDBJ reporter Alison Parker, 24, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27, were killed near 6:45 a.m. Wednesday during a live report at Smith Mountain Lake. Flanagan was a former employee at the television station who had been fired in 2013 due to his aggressive and volatile behavior.
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Flanagan fired 17 rounds at the scene, according to investigators. Franklin County Sheriff’s Office says it was clear he planned out the killings. But it is not clear where he was headed when he was spotted by a Virginia State Trooper around 11 a.m. Wednesday.
Ignoring the lights of the Virginia State Police cruisers behind him, Flanagan shot himself in the head and wrecked his rental car. He was pronounced dead Wednesday afternoon at Inova Fairfax Hospital.
A search warrant filed by State Police with the Fauquier County magistrate Thursday revealed the contents of Flanagan’s car.
See Also:
- Suspect Dead After Killing 2 During Live Television Interview
- Virginia News Show’s First Emotional Moments Back On Air
- News Crew Shooter: ‘I‘ve Been a Human Powder Keg for a While...Just Waiting to Go BOOM!!!!’
The warrant also lists “assorted handwritten and typed letters and notes” and a “to-do list” in the vehicle. Details haven’t been released regarding the content of those notes. Police also found a pistol case and two bags with “random” papers and supplies.
In a rambling 23-page suicide letter faxed to ABC News nearly two hours after the killings, Flanagan referred to himself as a “human powder keg.”
“Yes, it will sound like I am angry...I am,” according to Flanagan’s letter. “And I have every right to be. But when I leave this Earth, the only emotion I want to feel is peace....”
Evidence collected in the car and at Flanagan’s apartment suggest he acted alone and did not share his plan with anyone, local investigators said Friday.
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