Former WDBJ-TV News Director discusses tragic shooting | Editor’s Pick | 28 Aug 15

Описание: The former news director of a Virginia television station says the former employee who shot two ex-colleagues on live television had a long history of being a "professional victim".

Vester Flanagan made a variety of claims he was discriminated against while working at WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, said Dan Dennison, who is currently a state official in Hawaii.

The station took every claim seriously and investigated them, but each claim was found to be inaccurate and baseless, Dennison said.

Most claims were for the use of an innocuous word that Flanagan, who used the name Bryce Williams on the air, would take to be a racial slur, he said.

The station fired Flanagan in early 2013, less than a year after he was hired, for performance issues and conflicts with co-workers.

Dennison said the station had no indication when they hired Flanagan that he would become a problem, noting he had been given good reviews from his job at a technology company in the San Francisco bay area, and his references checked out.

Flanagan fatally shot 24-year-old Alison Parker and 27-year-old Adam Ward before killing himself on Wednesday.

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