Mr Cumbers, whose death was announced on the BBC News last night, worked as a news reporter in pirate radio in Dublin while still a teenager. He said diplomats at the Irish Embassy in Riyadh had been notified about the man's death earlier in the day. The Department of Foreign Affairs last night confirmed that an Irish citizen had been killed in Riyadh yesterday.Ī spokesman said the man would not be identified until his relatives had been informed. His colleague, security correspondent Mr Frank Gardner (42), was seriously injured in the gun attack.

Mr Simon Cumbers (36), a cameraman who worked for many years in radio and television in Dublin and the North, died immediately in the shooting in the Suweidi slum district. We love you, Alison and Adam.SAUDI ARABIA: An Irish cameraman was shot and killed and a British journalist wounded yesterday when gunmen fired on them as they filmed in an Islamist militant area of the Saudi capital Riyadh. We are trying to figure out what just happened - thank you all for your concern and kind words.

Video footage apparently captured the moment that shots rang out. 'That's what this gunman stole from our industry, from Melissa and from me.' 'This is big news, national news, but I just can't hammer home enough that he was a phenomenal person and that's what we lost,' said Solina Lewis, a friend of Ward, in a statement today. Update: Allison Parker and photographer Adam Ward have been killed in the shooting at Bridgewater Plaza at SML. Speaking in an emotional broadcast following the incident, a fellow staff member said: 'This kind of loss will resonate for a long, long time as we remember in their short lives what dedicated journalists and what outstanding people they were.' Sheriff's office tells NBC News that the gunman responsible for shooting 3 people, killing a reporter & photographer in VA is on the loose. In an interview on a local radio show shortly after the shooting took place, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe said that the suspect was believed to be a 'disgruntled former employee' of the news station. Marks could not recall if the complaint specifically concerned Ward and Parker. We had to call the police to escort him from the building.'Īfter being fired, Flanagan then filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging that co-workers had made racial comments, Marks added.

WDBJ General Manager Jeff Marks said on the air today that Flanagan was an 'unhappy man' and had a reputation of being difficult to work with.įlanagan 'was sort of looking out for people to say things that he could take offense to,' Marks said. 'Eventually, after many incidents of his anger coming to the fore, we dismissed him. 'Attracting Orlando and Bryce, two veteran reporters with an enormous scope of experience to our team, is a testament to the quality and professionalism of the news produced daily by the WDBJ7 team,' WDBJ news director Dan Dennison said at the time. WDBJ hired Flanagan in 2012 as a general assignment and multimedia reporter, introducing him in a statement alongside another new hire as Bryce Williams. The writer also said that he was inspired by other mass shootings, including the massacres at Virginia Tech and Columbine High School. 'I've been a human powder keg for a while… just waiting to go BOOM!!!' 'The church shooting was the tipping point… but my anger has been building steadily,' the fax read. The fax also claimed that his colleagues had discriminated against him for being black and gay. In the fax, which the writer referred to as a 'Suicide Note for Friends and Family,' he said that he was enraged by the racially-motivated shooting at a Charleston church this past June that killed nine black churchgoers. He said that he had shot two people and was being pursued by police.Īlmost two hours earlier, ABC News received a 23-page fax from someone identifying himself as Flanagan, detailing his motivations for the attack. Virginia State Police said Flanagan was transported to a nearby hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to ABC News. Virginia Secretary of Public Safety Brian Moran subsequently declared that Flanagan was pronounced dead at the hospital at 1:26 PM.ĪBC News said that a man called the network at approximately 10 AM and identified himself as Bryce Williams, noting that his real name was Vester Flanagan. The Augusta County Sheriff's Office had earlier confirmed that Flanagan killed himself, but WDBJ later reported that he had a pulse and was in very critical condition.

Journalist and cameraman shot