Reporter, Photographer Shot During Live Broadcast; Suspect Images Caught on TV Camera Footage; ABC News Receives Fax from Alleged Virginia Shooter; Manhunt Under Way for Virginia Shooter; Virginia Shooting Suspect Shoots Self During Police Confrontation.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.</s>CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining us. In case you've just joined us, we do start with breaking news and tragic news at that. A tiny TV station near Roanoke, Virginia, a reporter and photographer doing a live interview at some sort of water park and both were shot to death live on the air. You see the pictures there. Alison Parker, who was just 24 years old, she was the reporter. Adam Ward, the photographer, he was 27 years old. As Adam Ward was falling to the ground after being shot, his camera was still rolling. He caught an image of the gunman and I want to put that up for you right now. There he is. Police, sheriff's deputies and FBI agents looking for this man in Moneta, Virginia. They believe they have a name and a license plate number. Schools remain on lockdown in that area as authorities continue to search for this man. Now as I said, this incident happened live on the air. It is very disturbing to watch. We are only going to show it once this hour. So if such things disturb you, please leave the room. But I'm warning you, it's tough to watch. Here it is.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And talk about why it's important to get these business leaders involved?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is our community. And we want to come together. We want to share information that can help us grow and develop to provide a better experience. We're seeing tourism. We want the people that come here to say that --</s>COSTELLO: All right. You see it there. And I want to show the picture again because if you can help authorities any way, it would be much appreciated if you recognize this man. Please call Virginia authorities or call the FBI. Even your local chapter, they'll get you in touch with the right people. I just talked to the general manager, Jeff Marks. He made an announcement on the air to viewers in Virginia who saw this go down. Let's listen to that.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breaking news this morning out of Franklin County, news that has affected our WDBJ 7 family very deeply. Our WDBJ 7 morning crew was live this morning at Smith Mountain Lake when shots were fired around 6:45. And our general manager and WDBJ 7 vice president, Jeff Marks, is here. You can -- to tell us more about what happened.</s>JEFF MARKS, WDBJ VICE PRESIDENT: Kim, it was my very, very sad duty to report that we have determined through the help of the police and our own employees, that Alison and Adam died this morning shortly after 6:45 when the shots rang out. We do not know the motive. We do not know who the suspect or who the killer is. We do know that the Franklin County sheriff, I just got off the phone with Franklin County Sheriff Overton, just got off the phone before that with the state police. They are working very diligently to track down both the motive and the person responsible for this terrible crime against two fine journalists.</s>COSTELLO: All right. That was Jeff Marks. I talked to him earlier, in fact just about 15 minutes ago, and he described more of what went down during that live shot at that water park. Apparently, shots rang out, at least eight shots, we think. That's what we counted when we were watching the video. The shots hit the photographer first. Alison Parker, the reporter, was running away. And that's when she was shot. The person they were interviewing who was from the Chamber of Commerce was also hit. Brian Stelter early reported that she was in surgery and she had been hit in the back. I want to talk a little bit about the suspect search because that is ongoing. Alexandra Field is following that part of the story.</s>ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Carol, we know from authorities that they have the name of the person who they believe is the suspect. That they have the license plate number of that person. But there are lockdowns that remain in place in that community as they pursue this suspect. We know that the feds are involved, both the FBI and the ATF are in the manhunt trying to find this person. But no motive has been revealed. And that's why we're seeing the repercussions of this reverberating even here in New York City. The NYPD saying that they have stepped up their security efforts at stations, news stations around the city, putting an extra police presence out front. That is the image that was captured by the photographer as he is fatally shot. We understand from the station manager that 27-year-old photographer Adam Ward was hit first. He was rolling on the live shot. He drops his camera but it continues to record. It captures that face and that could solve the mystery of who unloaded these deadly shots. Alison Parker, you can then see her being hit. She is conducting an interview. She is looking at the woman, Vicki Gardner, who she's interviewing. They never see the suspect coming. We are now learning about how this was seen not just in this community but by the loved ones of these victims, both Alison and Adam. We know that Alison's boyfriend was an anchor at the station. Heartbroken, the only way to describe how he is this morning --</s>COSTELLO: I think -- I think perhaps if there could be a worse part of this is Adam Ward was engaged to the morning producer.</s>BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: That's right.</s>COSTELLO: And morning producers are in the control room and they're watching what goes out on air. Right?</s>FIELD: They're watching. Exactly.</s>COSTELLO: So she saw her fiance get shot.</s>FIELD: You saw -- once that video cuts out, it goes to an anchor in the studio who is speechless, as everyone watching would have been, as we are as we continue to see this video. But the fiancee of the photographer who is shot is in the control room. And we've all been in these control rooms, there are a lot of screens, you're talking to the crew in the field. She could have very well been in touch with Adam throughout the morning and even at that time. And they're literally watching live as this happens. You cannot imagine what the reaction must have been in that control room because, again, none of the three people on that scene seemed to see a shooter approaching. None of them react, you just heard the gunshots fire.</s>COSTELLO: And Brian --</s>STELTER: And they didn't know what had happened.</s>COSTELLO: Tweets are going out about the victims in this case.</s>STELTER: That's right. I thought we should share what --</s>COSTELLO: The tweets are being sent by loved ones.</s>STELTER: Chris was the boyfriend of Alison Parker. It was sort of a secret that they were dating in the newsroom. He is an anchor. She's a reporter. Sometimes that's how it happens at these local TV newsrooms. We can put up a picture on the screen that he just shared because he wrote that, "We didn't share this publicly," he wrote. "But Alison and I were very much in love. We just moved in together. I am numb." And if you don't mind, I'll read what he wrote. He wrote, "We were together almost nine months. It was the best nine months of our lives. We wanted to get married. We'd just celebrated her 24th birthday. She was the most radiant woman I ever met and for some reason, she loved me back. She loved her family, her parents, and her brother." And then he followed up by saying, "I am comforted by everyone at the station. We are a family. She worked with Adam every day. They were a team and I am heartbroken for his fiancee." So even in his moment, he's sharing those words to the other fiancee in the situation.</s>COSTELLO: I guess they had just moved in together, right? And this was probably her first job in television, Alison. She's only 24 years old. She just graduated in 2012.</s>FIELD: Studied at James Madison University.</s>COSTELLO: Working at her home state of Virginia. Right.</s>FIELD: That's right.</s>STELTER: And these local stations, you know, these are relatively small stations. You get your first job there, you work your way up. And this was a strong station with the strong news tradition. And as always in television, viewers at home felt like they knew Alison. You know. You watch every morning, you tune in for the morning news. You feel like you know these people. And that's why on Facebook the emotions that we're seeing from viewers by the thousands are so personal. Some of them unfortunately saw the shooting. Others heard about it later. But we're seeing, you know, a real outpouring in this community now from people who are hearing about the shooting and hearing about their deaths.</s>COSTELLO: On the phone right now, I have Ryan Edwards. He's from the school system in that area in Moneta, Virginia. Ryan, are you with me?</s>RYAN EDWARDS, BEDFORD COUNTY SCHOOLS: I am, Carol. Good morning.</s>COSTELLO: Good morning. You're with the Bedford County Schools. Tell me what's going on from your perspective.</s>EDWARDS: Carol, first of all, this is something that you rarely ever hear about, let alone in this area, but in this country. And what an unfortunate scenario. We have a couple of schools in the southwestern portion of Bedford County that are very near where the shooting occurred. We immediately placed those schools on lockdown. Subsequently we placed all 20 of our schools on lockdown and they remain in that status until this person or persons are apprehended.</s>COSTELLO: Did you -- were you watching television at the time?</s>EDWARDS: I was not watching television at that time. But I did have the opportunity to work with that reporter on one occasion and that cameraman on numerous occasions. And I just find this absolutely sickening.</s>COSTELLO: It's just -- it's just hard to fathom. They were just doing this fun live shot about tourism and that part of Virginia and they're talking up the community. And then shots ring out?</s>EDWARDS: Yes. That -- and I have seen some video which I've not been able to watch for much longer than five or six seconds because of what happened at the end. And this was a positive story about the tourism in a very popular area of our county, done by a very young, dedicated reporter with a wonderful attitude and a cameraman who was just the same, a dedicated individual. And this is just unspeakable from every angle it can be viewed.</s>COSTELLO: So how will you explain it to the kids in the school system because surely, you know, social media, it's all over social media. They're going to watch it.</s>EDWARDS: Yes. There's no question social media right now -- we have just a plethora of our parents that are anxious, that are worried, that are scared. We will have an abundance of counselors on hand, especially in that southwestern area of our county. Our county encompasses 750 square miles. But in that area, we will certainly have an abundance of counselors this morning on hand to deal with children that are grieving. And then of course we are doing everything that we can to get the word out to our parents that we're -- along with law enforcement, doing everything we can to protect their children while they're in our buildings.</s>COSTELLO: Ryan Edwards from the Bedford County School System, thank you so much for being with me this morning. I appreciate it. And before I go to break, I want to put up that suspect's picture one more time. If you can help at all, please call authorities. I'll be right back.