UPDATE: Wednesday, Aug. 26 (2:56 p.m. ET) – The suspect in this morning’s tragic shooting, Vester Flangan, has reportedly died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, confirms The Richmond Times-Dispatch.

In what is now a chilling image, Flanagan is seen holding an automatic weapon in a news story, part of the reporter’s audition reel (below).

Meanwhile, the third victim in the shooting, Vicki Gardner (who was being interviewed by the late Alison Parker when the shooting occurred) is said to be in stable condition.

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UPDATE: Wednesday, Aug. 26 (1:51 p.m. ET) – The family of slain TV news reporter Alison Parker has released the following statement, obtained exclusively by Entertainment Tonight:

“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.”;

– On behalf of Alison Parker’s family

Meanwhile, a number of celebrities have taken to Twitter to share their horror and outrage over this senseless tragedy:

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— UPDATE: Wednesday, Aug. 26 (11:58 a.m.ET) – The suspected gunman who shot and killed TV reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward has been revealed to be a disgruntled employee at the same TV station, and is reportedly in critical condition after shooting himself.

CBS News is reporting that Vester Flanagan was identified as the suspect in the shootings, described as a disgruntled employee of Roanoke, Virginia, TV station WDBJ.

The suspect is described as a “disgruntled station employee”; at WDBJ who went by the on-air name of Bryce Williams.

“A Twitter account belonging to a person using that name posted two videos of the shooting from the gunman’s perspective,”; reports CBS News. “The account has since been suspended,”; but included recent tweets in which he complained about a human-resources situation at work and referred to racial comments made by Parker.

Virginia State Police have confirmed that Flanagan subsequently shot himself and is currently in critical condition, although details at this time are still sketchy. Out of respect to the friends and family of the victims, ET Canada has decided not to show the video.

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A Virginia TV reporter and cameraman lost their lives this morning when they were shot and killed by an unidentified gunman during a live TV broadcast, with the tragic events playing out before the eyes of horrified viewers.

The incident occurred this morning in Roanoke, Virginia, when WDBJ reporter Alison Parker, 27, was being filmed by cameraman Adam Ward, 24, for a segment on the morning news.

As Parker is in the midst of interviewing a woman, shots can be heard. The camera drops to the ground while a woman’s screams fill the air as the gunshots continue. Seconds later, the feed cuts back to the newsroom. “OK, not sure what happened there,”; says the anchor back in the studio. “We will of course let you know as soon as we find out what those sounds were.”;

Following the broadcast, WDBJ general manger Jeffrey A. Marks appeared live on the air to announce the pair had lost their lives. “It’s my very very sad duty to report… that Alison and Adam died this morning,”; he said.

He added: “We do not know the motive. We do not know who the killer is.”; Marks also told viewers that police were “working very diligently to track down both the motive and the person responsible for this terrible crime against two fine journalists.”;

“I cannot tell you how much they were loved by the WDBJ7 team,”; he continued, noting that “they both were in love with other members of the team here and our hearts are broken.”; Police are searching for the shooter in the ongoing investigation into this tragic double homicide.http://www.kaltura.com/p/557781/sp/55778100/embedIframeJs/uiconf_id/16680472/partner_id/557781video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player