Vester Lee Flanagan, the suspected gunman in this morning’s shooting in Moneta, Virginia, sent ABC News a manifesto just two hours after the shooting.
The network reports that he had been calling them for weeks to pitch a story. He never told ABC News what the story was and also wanted fax information.
At 8:26 a.m., Flanagan, who went by the professional name Bryce Williams, sent the manifesto. After 10 a.m., he called ABC News and revealed what his legal name was and said he shot two people. He also told ABC News that police were after him. When Flanagan hung up, ABC News says it called authorities to give them his information.
In the manifesto, Flanagan claims that he was sent “over the top” after the Charleston Church shooting in June.
“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,” Flanagan wrote. “What sent me over the top was the church shooting. And my hollow point bullets have the victims’ initials on them."
In the manifesto, the writer claims that Jehovah spoke to him and told him to act. He says he was influenced by Virginia Tech mass shooter Seung Hui Cho and the Columbine shooters. In another part of the document, he wrote his “Suicide Note for Friends and Family,” where he claims he was sexually harassed and discriminated against at work. He claims to have been attacked by black men and white women and attacked for being a gay black man.
“Yes, it will sound like I am angry...I am. And I have every right to be. But when I leave this Earth, the only emotion I want to feel is peace,” Flanagan wrote. “The church shooting was the tipping point…but my anger has been building steadily...I’ve been a human powder keg for a while…just waiting to go BOOM!!!!”
Flanagan shot and killed WDBJ7 journalists Alison Parker, 24, and Adam Ward, 27, during a live broadcast this morning. Flanagan worked for the station until two years ago.