The black gunman who shot and killed two of his former colleagues at a television station in Roanoke, Virginia, during a live broadcast on Wednesday said he did it because of the Charleston, South Carolina, church shooting in June.
Bryce Williams, also known as Vester Lee Flanagan, gunned down in cold blood WDBJ7 TV reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward and wounded interviewee Vicki Gardner during a live coverage at about 6:45 a.m. at Bridgewater Plaza at Smith Mountain Lake in Moneta, Virginia, reports said.
Williams, a former WDBJ7 reporter, then fatally shot himself a few hours later while being pursued by police, reports said.
In a 23-page manifesto he sent to ABC News before he shot himself, Williams said, "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..."
ABC News said Williams called the station after faxing the manifesto to say that he shot two people and that the authorities were "after me."
"What sent me over the top was the church shooting. And my hollow point bullets have the victims' initials on them," he said. "As for Dylann Roof? You (expletive)! You want a race war (expletive)? BRING IT THEN YOU WHITE ...(expletive)!!!" he wrote, adding that Jehovah spoke to him to tell him to act.
Williams also called Virginia Tech mass killer Seung Hui Cho as "his boy" and admired the Columbine High School killers.
"Also, I was influenced by Seung–Hui Cho. That's my boy right there. He got NEARLY double the amount that Eric Harris and Dylann Klebold got...just sayin.'"
Sources told ABC News that Williams used a Glock 19 firearm, similar to what Cho used.
Williams called the letter a "Suicide Note for Friends and Family." He complained that he was attacked by black men and white females for being gay and that he suffered from racial discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying at work.
In his tweets after the shooting, William claimed "Alison made racist comments" and "Adam went to hr on me after working with me one time!!!"
In the manifesto, he said, "I marched down to the courthouse and sued WDBJ7 by myself and they settled! HA!"
"I can remember one day in particular... leaving the courthouse... feeling overwhelmed... confused... even some fear. But by golly I knew I HAD to fight. ... They truly [expletive] with my life and caused an awful chain of events," he continued.
Williams said the Charleston shooting became his "tipping point...but my anger has been building steadily...I've been a human powder keg for a while...just waiting to go BOOM!!!!"
He wrote about his financial hardship and working as a male escort where he "made thousands."
"[I] tried to pull myself up by the bootstraps," but "the damage was already done and when someone gets to this point, there is nothing that can be said or done to change their sadness to happiness. It does not work that way. Meds? Nah. It's too much," he wrote.
"And then, after the unthinkable happened in Charleston, THAT WAS IT!!!" Yeah I'm all [expletive] in the head," he said.
Family members, friends and colleagues paid tribute to Parker and Ward.
"Today we received news that no family should ever hear. Our vivacious, ambitious, smart, engaging, hilarious, beautiful, and immensely talented Alison was taken from the world. This is senseless and our family is crushed," the Parker family said in a statement sent to Entertainment Tonight.
Memorials and vigils were held for the victims.
"It did not register, didn't even realise it was gunshots. It probably should have, but she was doing a little feature story," said WDBJ anchor Kimberly McBroom, according to CBN.
Parker's boyfriend, WDBJ anchor Christ Hurst, said, "Today, I lost the love of my life and it wasn't slow, but it was incredibly painful and it was immediate."
