The on-air shooting of two US journalists is the latest calculated killing in the US to highlight how social media can be seized by one person to broadcast violent motives to a global audience.
Alison Parker (24) was conducting a live interview, filmed by Adam Ward (27), at 6.45am on Wednesday in Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia. Vester Lee Flanagan (41), known professionally as Bryce Williams, appeared behind Ward and fired several gunshots, killing Parker and Ward and critically injuring interview subject Vicki Gardner (62), who is now reported to be in a stable condition.
Ward's camera dropped to the floor and kept rolling as the shots fired, broadcasting Parker's screams to viewers of the WDBJ7 morning show in Virginia.
Williams, a journalist with some 20 years' experience, filmed the killings with a GoPro-like wearable camera and uploaded the footage to social media later in the morning, advertising the video and tweeting about his motives on Twitter. His Twitter account has since been suspended.
"The killings appear to have been skilfully engineered for maximum distribution," observed Farhad Manjoo of the New York Times. "Mr Flanagan was ready, his social accounts prepared with a professional picture and childhood photos. Then, as soon as his name began to be mentioned online, he appeared to have logged in to Twitter and Facebook to begin posting the outlines of a defense and an explanation, as well as his own clip of the killings," Manjoo continued.
Williams, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at around 1.30pm on Wednesday, was a former colleague of Parker and Ward, having worked for WDBJ7 between 2012 and 2013. Tweets allegedly sent by Williams shortly before his death suggest he harboured resentment towards Parker and Ward as well as the TV station.
WDBJ7 dismissed Williams in February 2013 due to "unsatisfactory job performance and inability to work as a team member," following several reports from colleagues saying he made them feel physically and verbally threatened, according to a set of internal company memos acquired by The Guardian.
Social media often provides a means for individuals with violent or destructive motives to gain the mainstream attention or recognition they have previously been denied, comments Mike Sharman, owner of local digital agency Retroviral.
In this case, social media gave Williams control over the publication of his video of the killings and his motives therefore, says Sharman.
"Because there's no censorship [and] you don't have to go through an editorial committee," it is easier to disseminate threatening or violent content via social media, he adds.
In May 2014, 22-year-old Elliot Rodger killed six people and injured 14 others before committing suicide near the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara, in what has become known as the Isla Vista killings.
Hours before the killings, Rodger posted several YouTube videos voicing his desires and plans to murder his fellow students. The videos subsequently accumulated millions of views.
Share