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Ex-TV employee kills colleagues on air

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A disgruntled former TV station employee killed a pair of one-time colleagues on live air and then apparently posted his deadly work on social media Wednesday.

The killer posted images of the shooting to social media.Photo: Twitter

The shooter is seen firing during the live broadcast.

“I filmed the shooting, see Facebook,” former reporter Bryce Williams tweeted along with chilling footage of him killing Alison Parker and Adam Ward from Roanoke affiliate WDBJ.

Parker and Ward died in the 6:46 a.m. attack.

Reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam WardPhoto: Facebook

“Adam went to hr [human resources] on me after working with me one time!!!,” he tweeted after the killings.

“They hired her after that???”

Cops identified Williams, who also went by the name Vester L. Flanagan, as a person of interest, according to CNN.

The shooting happened at the Bridgewater Plaza in Moneta, Va., when Parker was doing a story on local tourism and interviewing the head of the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce.

As at least eight shots rang out and Ward fell, his camera appeared to catch a chilling glimpse of the killer — a man in dark clothes, a corrugated purple vest and holding a handgun in his right hand.

Parker screamed in terror as she ran away from the shooter, footage by Ward shows.

Back at the studio, horrified anchor Kimberly McBroom, her mouth agape, said: “OK, I’m not sure what happened there.”

“They were special people, they’d brighten up a room every morning,” McBroom said later after breaking the tragic news.

Vicki Gardner, the chamber official Parker was interviewing, was shot in the back before she was rushed to a hospital where doctors operated on her, officials said.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe told WTOP that cops were hot on the killer’s trail.

“We know who the suspect is. We believe it’s a disgruntled employee from the station is what we believe right now,” he said.

“But there’s an active pursuit going on. We know the suspect and I assume in very short order … the suspect will be in custody.”

Both Parker, 24, and Ward, 27, grew up locally and attended college in the commonwealth — she at James Madison and he at Virginia Tech.

“I can’t tell you how much they were loved,” station GM Jeff Marks said. “Our hearts are broken.”

Marks revealed that Parker was involved with Chris Hurst, an anchor and reporter at WDBJ.

“Chris has said it’s OK to say that he and Alison were an item and were involved,” the GM said. “Chris is here and quite devastated.”

A short time later, Hurst posted a picture of the two on Twitter.

“We didn’t share this publicly, but @AParkerWDBJ7 and I were very much in love,” Hurst tweeted. “We just moved in together. I am numb.”

“We were together almost nine months. It was the best nine months of our lives. We wanted to get married. We just celebrated her 24th birthday,” Hurst continued.

“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.”

Hurst thanks colleagues for their condolences.

“I am comforted by everyone at @WDBJ7. We are a family,” he wrote. “She worked with Adam every day. They were a team. I am heartbroken for his fiancee.”

Ward was engaged to a WDBJ news producer, who had just accepted a new job in Charlotte, NC, McBroom said.

It was the fiancee’s last day on the job Wednesday and Parker had brought balloons and cake to the newsroom to celebrate.

“There were a lot of good things happening for Adam and Alison,” a downcast McBroom said.

Parker had just celebrated her birthday Aug. 19 and she was working that day.

“I’m at work on my special day. But my awesome fellow employees brought me some yummy donuts, so I guess it’s not so bad!” she wrote on Facebook.

On Monday, she posted some photos of a whitewater rafting trip she took with friends and family in North Carolina to celebrate her special day.

She wrote that she would be out in the field reporting Tuesday through Friday and would anchor the show Saturday.

Parker was also set to compete in a “Dancing with the Stars” competition in Virginia that raises money for a charity that helps survivors of domestic violence.

She wrote that she was looking forward to the dance-off and had spent “months and many hours of dance rehearsals” preparing.

Additional reporting by Lou Lumenick

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Fired reporter kills 2 former co-workers on live TV

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By STEVE HELBER, PAM RAMSEY and JONATHAN DREW
Associated Press

MONETA, Va. (AP) – He planned it all so carefully – a choreographed execution of two former colleagues, broadcast live to a horrified television audience. Hours later, he shared his own recording of the killing worldwide on social media.

Vester Lee Flanagan’s video shows him approaching WDBJ reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward, gun in hand, as they conduct an interview. He points the gun at Parker and then at Ward, but he waits patiently to shoot until he knows that Parker is on camera, so she will be gunned down on air.

TV viewers heard about the first eight of 15 shots. They saw Parker scream and run, and heard her crying “Oh my God!” as she fell. Ward fell, too, and the camera he had been holding on his shoulder captured a fleeting image of the suspect holding a handgun.

That man, authorities said, was Flanagan – a former staffer who used the on-air name of Bryce Williams and was fired by WDBJ, a man who always was looking for reasons to take offense, colleagues recalled. He fled the scene but then posted his own 56-second video of the murders on Twitter and Facebook. He later ran off a highway while being pursued hundreds of miles away and was captured; he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Wednesday’s on-air murders reverberated far from central Virginia because that’s just what the killer wanted – not just to avenge perceived wrongs, but to gain maximum, viral exposure. He used his insider’s knowledge of TV journalism against his victims – a 24-year-old reporter who was a rising star and a 27-year-old cameraman engaged to a producer who watched the slaughter live from the control room.

Flanagan’s planning may have started weeks ago when, ABC News said, a man claiming to be Bryce Williams called repeatedly, saying he wanted to pitch a story and needed fax information. He sent ABC’s newsroom a 23-page fax two hours after the 6:45 a.m. shooting that was part-manifesto, part-suicide note – calling himself a gay black man who had been mistreated by people of all races, and saying he bought the gun two days after nine black people were killed in a June 17 shooting at a Charleston church. The fax also included admiration for the gunmen in mass killings at places like Virginia Tech and Columbine High School in Colorado.

He described himself as a “human powder keg,” that was “just waiting to go BOOM!!!!”

Parker and Ward were a regular team, providing stories for the station’s “Mornin'” show on everything from breaking news to feature stories on subjects like child abuse. Their live spot Wednesday was nothing out of the ordinary: They were interviewing a local official at an outdoor shopping mall for a tourism story before the shots rang out.

As Parker screamed and Ward collapsed, Ward’s camera kept rolling, capturing the image of the suspect pointing the gun. WDBJ quickly switched to the anchor back at the station, clearly shocked, who told viewers, “OK, not sure what happened there.”

Parker and Ward died at the scene. Their interview subject, Vicki Gardner, also was shot, but emerged from surgery later Wednesday in stable condition.

Flanagan, 41, who was fired from WDBJ in 2013, was described by the station’s president and general manager, Jeffrey Marks, as an “an unhappy man” and “difficult to work with,” always “looking out for people to say things he could take offense to.”

“Eventually after many incidents of his anger coming to the fore, we dismissed him. He did not take that well,” Marks said. He recalled that police had to escort Flanagan out of the building because he refused to leave when he was fired.

Tweets posted Wednesday on the gunman’s Twitter account – since suspended – described workplace conflicts with both victims. He said he filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Parker, and that Ward had reported him to human resources.

Marks said Flanagan alleged that other employees made racially tinged comments to him, but that his EEOC claim was dismissed and none of his allegations could be corroborated.

“We think they were fabricated,” the station manager said.

Dan Dennison, now a state government spokesman in Hawaii, was the WDBJ news director who hired Flanagan in 2012 and fired him in 2013, largely for performance issues, he said.

“We did a thorough investigation and could find no evidence that anyone had racially discriminated against this man,” Dennison said. “You just never know when you’re going to work how a potentially unhinged or unsettled person might impact your life in such a tragic way.”

Court records and recollections from former colleagues at a half-dozen other small-market stations where he bounced around indicate that Flanagan was quick to file complaints. He was fired at least twice after managers said he was causing problems with other employees.

Both Parker and Ward grew up in the Roanoke area, attended high school there and later interned at the station. After Parker’s internship, she moved to a smaller market in Jacksonville, North Carolina, before returning to WDBJ. She was dating Chris Hurst, an anchor at the station and had just moved in with him.

“We were together almost nine months,” Hurst posted on Facebook. “It was the best nine months of our lives. We wanted to get married. We just celebrated her 24th birthday. She was the most radiant woman I ever met.”

Ward, who played high school football, was a devoted fan of his alma mater, Virginia Tech. His colleagues said he rarely, if ever, missed a game. They called him a “happy-go-lucky guy” – even during the early morning hours that are the proving ground for so many beginning journalists.

Ward’s fiancee, station producer Melissa Ott, was in the control room marking her last day on the job when the shots rang out. Ward had planned to follow her to her new job in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Marks helped lead the live coverage Wednesday after the station confirmed its two employees were dead. He said he and his staff covered the story despite their grief, to honor their slain colleagues.

“Our hearts are broken,” he said. “Our sympathy goes to the entire staff here, but also the parents and family of Alison Parker and Adam Ward, who were just out doing their job today.”

___

Ramsey reported from Charleston, West Virginia. Drew reported from Hardy, Virginia.

___

This story has been corrected to show that Flanagan was fired from WDBJ in 2013, not this year.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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TechAssure Names New Florida Member

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CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — TechAssure, the international nonprofit association of insurance and risk management experts for technology-related risks, has named Celedinas Insurance Group as the exclusive Florida member.  Based in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, Celedinas Insurance Group is an independent, full-service insurance brokerage firm that caters to middle-market technology and life science industry clientele.  Founded in 1959 and licensed nationally, Celedinas has grown into one of the largest independent insurance brokerage firms in the country.



“Florida is an important area of focus for TechAssure and we are pleased to add a firm with the commitment, creativity and clout of Celedinas Insurance Group,” said TechAssure Executive Director, Garrett Droege. “They are a wonderful addition to our international network of specialty brokers.”


Celedinas Insurance Group is dedicated to managing the full range of personal and business risks, including data breach and cyber liability, corporate governance exposures, DO, EO, private risk management for affluent individuals and families, and more.  President and CEO, Ray Celedinas added, “As our technology practice continues to grow we are thrilled to join a network like TechAssure that has the knowledge and expertise to inform our discriminating clientele.  Our clients will benefit by having access to exclusive resources, solely-focused on technology risk management.” Celedinas Insurance Group has seven locations in Florida, including Boca Raton, Miami, Ocean Reef, Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Vero Beach and the Corporate Headquarters also located in Palm Beach Gardens.



MORE ABOUT TECHASSURE



TechAssure is a unique consortium of risk management experts serving innovative industries, such as technology, telecommunications, life sciences, clean tech, as well as the venture capital and private equity firms that fund them.  Comprised of 22 specialist firms located in strategic locations across the world, TechAssure members collectively serve over 4,000 clients and represent over $3 Billion in premium volume.  The association also produces a proprietary annual benchmarking report for the industries it serves.  TechAssure is currently celebrating its 15th year.



If you would like more information about TechAssure, please contact H. Garrett Droege, CPCU, CIC at 704-728-7232 or email.  Visit www.techassure.com or Twitter @TechAssure



Celedinas Insurance Group:
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Bryson City Alderman Rick Bryson to seek WNC House seat – Asheville Citizen

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BRYSON CITY – Rick Bryson says he’s running to represent most of Western North Carolina in the U.S. House so the region’s young people won’t have to do what he did: Leave the region to get a job.

“I was one of those kids that got a technical education and there was nothing around here for me,” he said.

Bryson, a Democrat who serves on the town’s Board of Aldermen, recently announced he will run next year for the 11th House District seat now held by Jackson County Republican Mark Meadows.

Meadows, who has not formally stated his intentions for 2016, is serving his second term and unseating him would be an uphill task for any Democrat in the conservative district. Bryson, 71, is the first announced Democratic candidate.

Bryson said boosting the region’s economy would be a top priority if he’s successful. “Let’s bring our kids back to the mountains,” he said.

He grew up in Bryson City and left after high school to go to North Carolina State University, getting a degree in mechanical engineering. He worked in Delaware, Maryland, Ohio and Quebec, primarily as a technical writer, before returning to his hometown in 2009 to live in the house he grew up in. He’s now semi-retired.

Bryson proposes establishing a foundation to provide initial investments and other services to incubate new businesses in the region. He said it could tap existing sources of funds without requiring a tax increase.

Entrepreneurs, he said, are “just waiting for seed money and development money to go to work. If they do this, what happens is a kid like me who goes off to school could come back.”

Bryson said Meadows has few accomplishments to show for his time in the House and cost the region $23 million in tourism and other revenue when he played a leading role in shutting down the federal government for more than two weeks in October 2013.

“Basically, he’s strong on style and short on substance. He quarrels with Democrats. He quarrels with Republicans,” Bryson said.

Meadows filed a resolution last month calling for Republican House Speaker John Boehner to step down.

Bryson called it a publicity stunt, saying, “I think that’s why he gets his face in the newspaper and on the websites.”

He said he would take a less confrontational approach, saying his campaign motto is a phrase from Isaiah: “Let us reason together.”

Congress, he said, is “mired in a condition of do-nothingness. Let’s stop the chaos. Let’s stop the quarreling. Regardless of your party, we’re Americans.”

Bryson’s father was once mayor of Bryson City — the town was named for an ancestor — and he says, “Politics is genetic with me.”

He ran for Swain County Board of Education not long after returning to Bryson City and fared poorly because, he said, “I don’t think a lot of people knew me.”

He resolved to change that when he ran for alderman in 2013. “I knocked on every door here that didn’t have a fence around it. If there’s a fence around it, there’s a dog behind it,” he said.

“Shoe leather trumps money,” Bryson said, but he acknowledged putting that belief in practice in the 11th District will take some work. The district runs from Hickory to the western tip of the state past Murphy. It take in most of WNC but does not include most of Asheville, the southeastern quadrant of Buncombe County or Polk or Rutherford counties.

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iSolved Network building championship roster

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School, summer vacation calendars meet once again

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A decade-long debate continues. In January this year, House Bill 9 was introduced in the North Carolina legislature, once again proposing flexibility for school districts in planning their calendars. By law districts now must start no earlier than the Monday closest to Aug. 26 except in certain cases, and end no later than the Friday closest to June 11.

The bill had bipartisan sponsorship, led by Rep. Craig Horn, a Republican from Weddington. The discussion puts parents, the tourism industry, legislators and educators on different sides of a complex issue.

 “If we can’t generate some support in the Senate, we can’t make progress with it. It makes no sense to continue on an agrarian calendar. You’ve got to have more flexibility in delivering education,” Horn said.

Horn co-chaired the House Study Committee on Education Innovation, which issued a report in December calling for reinstating waivers for calendar flexibility and additional study of obligatory start and stop dates for schools.

The tourism industry is concerned about seasonal income, the educational system about meeting educational requirements and parents about losing summer vacation days.

The N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association (NCRLA) posted this statement on its website: “NCRLA has actively opposed this legislation and other bills that would weaken the summer tourism season by shortening the length of public school summer vacations.”

According to its website, NCRLA supports the current calendar law because family vacations taken during the summer season are essential to North Carolina’s tourism industry, the tourism industry relies on high school students during the summer season and the students receive income through these jobs and also work skills.

NCRLA reports that starting school in late August produces as much as $1 billion each year in economic growth through increased tourism-related sales and that other states with late August start dates report no educational impact.

“The Wilmington Area Hospitality Association (WAHA) monitors the school calendars for not only the state of North Carolina, but from other states who have visitors that travel to this area. There is not as much of a focus within the association in the local four-county region, as during the height of the summer, most visitors come from outside the area said Heather Loftin, president of the WAHA board. 

“What we see is that most northern United States schools do not return to classrooms until after Labor Day, and that is where we monitor most closely as that would have the most impact.”

Some examples of varying calendars include those in Boston, Massachusetts, which begin the day after Labor Day and continue until June 29 and those in Charleston, South Carolina, which began Aug. 17 and end June 2.

Schools in New Hanover County on the traditional year schedule started classes Aug. 24, and will ring the final bell of the year June 9.

Educators look at a different side of the issue. They have to meet the law’s requirement to provide 185 instructional days or 1,025 hours per school year, while planning around required holidays. So a later start date equals a later ending date while unforeseen events can cut into planned hours.

Restricting those requirements to dates between Aug. 26 and June 11 can be challenging, they said.

There are several reasons that districts are seeking calendar flexibility, reported LaChawn Smith, assistant superintendent for instruction and academic accountability for the New Hanover County school district.

“One reason is related to the different ways in which inclement weather impacts different regions around the state,” Smith  said. “With current limitations, many districts who have to make up days find their students have to make up days on Saturdays or during their spring breaks.

“Another concern is alignment with community and university schedules. High school students in their junior and senior year often have the opportunity to take advantage of college and university classes, but when calendars do not align, this can cause major scheduling issues for students. Additionally, given the current limitations, students must complete first semester exams after their winter break. For many, breaks are spent worrying or fretting over exams and not enjoying time with family and friends. For others, the ‘break’ from instruction leads to deflated performance and disappointing grades.”

“We have to work together and develop strategies that work,” said Valita Quattlebaum, spokeswoman for New Hanover County Schools. “A few more days added to the calendar can make a huge impact in our ability to increase professional development for teachers and better support student achievement. In the long run, we all win with a better educated workforce for North Carolina.”

Currently there are six workdays on the calendar, many of them taken up with mandatory meetings, she said.

Allowing public schools to establish an academically sound calendar, the same flexibility afforded to charter schools, would put local boards of education in the best position to meet the specific needs of the students in their district, Smith said.

She noted that the N.C. Association of School Administrators 2015 Legislative Priorities included a statement that students learn best when the calendar is designed to enhance learning gains and retention, high school schedules mesh with university and college schedules and fall exams conclude before the winter break starts.

One thing New Hanover County educators have learned from the year-round school calendar, they said, is when students don’t have such a long break away from school, they don’t start to lose progress on their instruction. The frequent breaks also allow for less teacher and student burnout.

“We will be adding schools to the year-round calendar including Sunset Park, Snipes and Virgo Prep,” Quattlebaum said. Principals and families prepare for these schedule changes one to two years in advance.

Parents who have organized under the Save Our Summers-North Carolina (SOS-NC) banner present multiple reasons on their website for supporting later start dates, with the first being more family time.

Also listed were outside-the-classroom education [for students], summer jobs, daycare expenses being lower for summer activities, buses without air conditioning, scheduling for divorced families shared time, time for teacher continuing education and allowing time for second jobs for teachers to make ends meet. The group asserts that school boards should not be the ones making the decision about school calendars.

“When SOS-NC takes a stand for ‘local control,’ we are referring to the very grassroots meaning of the words: parents, students, teachers, etc.,” Louise Lee, one of the founders of SOS-NC, stated.

But it looks as if the legislature will not tackle the calendar issue this year.

“I’m not optimistic about it because of the time of year and that the Senate has absolutely dug in their heels,” Horn said.

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Buncombe Commissioners to vote on tourism tax, parkway protection

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The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners’ Sept. 1 meeting seems to cover all of the bases, from taxes to zoning to county services and a possible Vietnam memorial wall.

Time capsules, peace and honored entrepreneurs

First off, the board will name three days in honor of three different causes.

Sept. 18, 2015 will be proclaimed as Asheville Buncombe Time Capsule Day, celebrating the installation of the next 100-year time capsule into the Vance Monument downtown.

“Asheville’s first time capsule was placed by the North Carolina Grand Lodge of Masons under the cornerstone of the Vance Monument as part of the monument construction in 1896,” reads the proclamation.

Opened on March 31 of this year, the 1896 capsule contained a Bible, coins, local media publications, Masonic memorabilia, Zebulon Vance memorabilia, a list of city officers, a city schools yearbook and honor roll and the program of the dedication ceremony.

Now, Asheville and Buncombe County are putting another capsule back under the cornerstone of the monument, this time containing “a snapshot of what makes Asheville and Buncombe County unique in 2015,” such as our business, arts and culture, current events, social issues and demographics, among other things. The time capsule will be opened in the year 2115.

Next up, Sept. 21, 2015 will be declared the International Day of Peace.

“The issue of peace embraces the deepest hopes of all peoples and remains humanity’s guiding inspiration,” reads the proclamation. Buncombe County will “urge all agencies, organizations, schools, places of worship and individuals in our county to commemorate in an appropriate manner the International Day of Peace.”

And, finally, the Board will declare the week of Sept. 14-18 as Minority Enterprise Development Week, celebrating and honoring minority entrepreneurs in our community.

“As we enter in an era of expanded opportunities in economic growth and development and face the economic challenges ahead, it is appropriate that we encourage minority business owners by recognizing their contributions toward the continued economic development of our community,” the proclamation reads.

Increased tourism tax

The Board will consider a resolution raising the room occupancy and tourism development tax from 4 to 6 percent.

This means that overnight vacationers in Buncombe County would have to pay an additional 2 percent in taxes on top of the 7 percent sales tax rate. If approved, the new rate would go into effect on Nov. 1.

Parkway protection

Next, Commissioners will decide whether to add additional restrictions to the Blue Ridge Parkway overlay district.

In May, Buncombe County agreed to work with the National Park Service to come up with additional rules for development along the parkway’s viewshed. Now, the County Planning Department will present those suggestions.

While, under current requirements, the rules imposed in the Blue Ridge Parkway overlay apply only to non-single family development, the new proposition suggests that these restrictions should apply to all development. And while the current ordinance states that the property must be adjacent to NPS property, the proposed changes would apply to any property visible from the road. As an additional requirement, trees must be planted between the building and the parkway to help keep the parkway’s views as natural as possible.

At the May meeting, Commissioners and Parkway Superintendent Mark Woods discussed how adjacent development spoiled the natural views from portions of the parkway in Virginia. Woods noted that the surrounding towns reported a severely degraded quality of the scenic views, which decreased tourism and negatively affected the surrounding areas.

Sales tax redistribution

The Board will discuss a letter drafted to the North Carolina General Assembly, revealing Buncombe County’s firm stance against the proposed sales tax redistribution.

“The change in formula will have a huge negative impact on our budgeted revenue,” reads the letter. “Our only option to increase revenues will be through the increase in local option sales taxes through referendum. If the electorate doesn’t support the tax increase, our options will be to cut services or raise property taxes to pay for infrastructure investments already made, threatening our continued economic growth.”

Additionally, the Commissioners point out, “many individuals commute into high growth regions for jobs while having the option to live in a more rural setting. … We believe investing in infrastructure that allows for regional economies rather than county-oriented economies is best for the state.”

Vietnam memorial wall

A vague agenda information sheet outlines the basics of a funding request for a local Vietnam memorial wall.

“The local veterans group is working to bring the Vietnam Wall memorial to Buncombe County,” it reads.

So far, the group has raised $12,000 of the $25,000 required. The unnamed veterans group asks that Buncombe County give $1,000 from each of its six municipalities, totaling $6,000.

A change in fire districts

Currently, there are 35 Rural Fire Protection Districts and County Service Districts providing fire protection, ambulance and rescue services to the citizens of Buncombe County.

For tax purposes, county staff and the Buncombe County Fire Chiefs Association propose “to abolish and establish certain service districts,” so that there will be only 21 of these districts in the county.

“The purpose of these proposed new Fire Protection Ambulance and Rescue Service Districts would be to provide financial support for the current nineteen community volunteer and professional fire departments” and assist the Asheville Fire Departments when needed.

If passed, the resolution will allow the county to move forward and hold five public hearings in October on whether particular fire service districts are needed, as well as 15 public hearings for several new districts.

Prior to these hearings, the county will prepare a report on each district.

Extending emergency medical services

In that same vein, the county will discuss extending emergency medical services to five fire protection service districts.

The fire districts in that could benefit from this proposition are:

  • the Broad River FPSD
  • the East Buncombe FPSD
  • the Enka-Candler FPSD
  • the Garren Creek FPSD
  • the Asheville Suburban FPD

The meeting will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 1, in the Commissioner Chambers on the third floor of the county building at 200 College St. To view the full agenda, click here.

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Small French town remembers WWII pilot who crashed there

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After more than 70 years, townspeople from Norwood in Stanly County and Jouarre, France, discovered – and honored – a link from World War II they never knew existed.

On July 8, 1944, the liberation of France in full bloom, a P-51 Mustang fighter plane crashed in woods near Jouarre, just east of Paris. The pilot died and was buried in an American cemetery in northeastern France – all but forgotten.

Until last year, when a small group of Jouarre war veterans set out to track down the pilot’s name. They discovered it was James Lowder Jr. from Norwood, 40 miles east of Charlotte.

In early July, Jouarre paid homage to the forever-young pilot with a moving dedication of two plaques they’d installed in his honor. The ceremony drew nine Norwoodians – including Lowder’s distant cousin – to the French farming community of 4,000, 50 miles east of Paris along the Marne River.

“The connection could have been in any small rural town in America,” said Les Young of Norwood, who helped organize the trip to France. “But James Lowder was one of ours. He belongs to Jouarre, too.”

For decades, Europeans have erected similar memorials and held similar remembrances to honor the sacrifice thousands of Americans made in World War II to liberate them from the grip of Nazi Germany. Those ceremonies have accelerated in recent years while warriors who took part are still alive to receive the appreciation.

Each June 6 on the D-Day anniversary, thousands of Europeans journey to the American cemetery at Normandy, France, to pay their respects to the thousands who died on the beaches below and battlefields beyond.

Last year, the town of Braintree/Bocking in England dedicated a memorial to a B-17 crew of 11 Americans on their way home when the bomber was clipped by another Flying Fortress on May 10, 1945 – two days after the war in Europe ended. Two of the 11 killed were from Charlotte.

Each Aug. 5, the people of Mayenne, France, celebrate Army Pvt. James Dougald McRacken of Red Springs, N.C., who less than a month after Lowder’s plane crashed died saving the town’s bridge and was given the title “the savior of Mayenne.” The town renamed the bridge Pont Mac Racken and in 1946 built a monument to McRacken where children lay cut flowers on the anniversary.

“Every day in . villages across France and in Western Europe, we are reminded of just how much support the American sacrifice receives overseas, and how it continues to resonate,” said John Wessels, a deputy secretary for the American Battle Monuments Commission who’s in charge of overseas operations. “We see tangible evidence day in and day out of European support for the American sacrifice.”

Crashed on 20th mission

Until July, the only tribute to Lowder came in 1946, when VFW Post 6183 in Norwood was named after him.

Sixteen Norwoodians were killed in the war. “We had four or five kids in school whose daddies died in the war,” Young, 74, said. “They could have named the post for any of them.”

Lowder grew up on a farm near Norwood. His father, James Sr., was a World War I veteran and principal of the Aquadale School (he’d later become a state senator); his mother, “Miss Polly,” was a church organist.

Their son was studying agriculture at State College (N.C. State) when America was drawn into the war. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps, although he had never flown. On June 6, 1944, D-Day, he joined the 358th Fighter Squadron of the 355th Fighter Group, based at RAF (Royal Air Force) Steeple Morden air field in England.

On the way back to England from his 20th mission, his squadron was strafing a German airfield when his plane crashed and blew up in woods outside Jouarre a day after Lowder was promoted to first lieutenant. None of the other pilots saw the plane get hit, a report said, and the cause of the crash is unknown.

Six months later, his only sibling’s husband, Wallace Shipplett of Norwood, a B-17 bombardier, was killed when his bomber crashed near Berlin. The families in Norwood asked that the two be buried side by side at Epinal, which includes 5,300 other Americans killed in the war.

“James’ parents and sister were planning to make the trip to France in the late 1960s, but by then his father had a heart condition and they never made it,” Young said.

Operation Mustang born

Young hadn’t thought of Lowder for years until a call came last year from Graeme Wright in Paris.

Wright had been hiking near Jouarre and read a sign about an unrelated World War II event. He asked in town about the incident and was told to talk to Claude Pottin, president of the local “Le Fraternelle,” an organization of war veterans.

By then the Fraternelle had undertaken Operation Mustang, an effort to find the identity of the pilot of the plane that had crashed in 1944 and honor him in a lasting way. Jouarre’s mayor, Fabien Vallée, endorsed the effort.

Wright spoke English, and Pottin asked if he’d help them find the pilot’s family.

A friend in England used military records to find Lowder’s name and hometown. And there was a VFW post in town named for him. Wright called the post and was led to Young.

The Fraternelle and Vallée, Wright said in an email, wanted to “create a trigger for those present and future . a trigger that, in whatever way, would cause people to ask questions, remember and perhaps reflect on the historic alliance between these two great countries.”

Linking the two towns

Wright invited a Norwood delegation to come for a ceremony near the time of the 71st anniversary. He asked Young to find relatives – but few were left. Lowder’s only nephew was unable to go. A delegation of nine, including distant cousin Chester Lowder, made the trip for the July 11 ceremony.

They flew to Paris and, before heading to Jouarre, took a train to Epinal to visit the graves of Lowder and Shipplett. There, sisters Jina (10) and Lina (12) Park of Norwood put red roses at the granite crosses. Chester Lowder spoke about his cousin, Young read a poem he’d written about Lowder, and the group recited Psalm 23.

Then it was on to Jouarre, where they were put up in a chateau built in 1760, fed four-course meals and treated to three full days of events. “We didn’t have any free time,” Young said. “The French were amazing hosts and had everything planned.”

At 9 a.m. on July 11, a small group of French and the Norwoodians gathered at the village cemetery where a stone marker with Lowder’s likeness was dedicated. Afterward, as the group headed to a plaza near the town hall, the crowd grew into the hundreds.

At noon, a P-51 Mustang flew laps around the town to signal the start of the ceremony. The national anthems of both countries were played. An American color guard from Ramstein Air Base in Germany presented the flags. Flowers from French veterans were given to the Norwoodians, who met three witnesses to the crash.

Then in a park, near where Lowder’s plane went down, the people of Jouarre unveiled a large historical marker with a Mustang pictured – and the crash’s story in French and English.

The Americans and French found more similarities than differences. Both towns farm, are built inside the fork of two rivers and are similar in size. Both towns hope the relationship will grow.

“Lt. Lowder is now forever a part of Jouarre’s history,” Wright wrote. “From that has risen a new friendship between two towns . and the linking of these two communities across the miles, across generations, is perhaps the legacy of Lt. Lowder himself.”

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Fired reporter kills 2 former co-workers on live TV

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By STEVE HELBER, PAM RAMSEY and JONATHAN DREW
Associated Press

MONETA, Va. (AP) – He planned it all so carefully – a choreographed execution of two former colleagues, broadcast live to a horrified television audience. Hours later, he shared his own recording of the killing worldwide on social media.

Vester Lee Flanagan’s video shows him approaching WDBJ reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward, gun in hand, as they conduct an interview. He points the gun at Parker and then at Ward, but he waits patiently to shoot until he knows that Parker is on camera, so she will be gunned down on air.

TV viewers heard about the first eight of 15 shots. They saw Parker scream and run, and heard her crying “Oh my God!” as she fell. Ward fell, too, and the camera he had been holding on his shoulder captured a fleeting image of the suspect holding a handgun.

That man, authorities said, was Flanagan – a former staffer who used the on-air name of Bryce Williams and was fired by WDBJ, a man who always was looking for reasons to take offense, colleagues recalled. He fled the scene but then posted his own 56-second video of the murders on Twitter and Facebook. He later ran off a highway while being pursued hundreds of miles away and was captured; he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Wednesday’s on-air murders reverberated far from central Virginia because that’s just what the killer wanted – not just to avenge perceived wrongs, but to gain maximum, viral exposure. He used his insider’s knowledge of TV journalism against his victims – a 24-year-old reporter who was a rising star and a 27-year-old cameraman engaged to a producer who watched the slaughter live from the control room.

Flanagan’s planning may have started weeks ago when, ABC News said, a man claiming to be Bryce Williams called repeatedly, saying he wanted to pitch a story and needed fax information. He sent ABC’s newsroom a 23-page fax two hours after the 6:45 a.m. shooting that was part-manifesto, part-suicide note – calling himself a gay black man who had been mistreated by people of all races, and saying he bought the gun two days after nine black people were killed in a June 17 shooting at a Charleston church. The fax also included admiration for the gunmen in mass killings at places like Virginia Tech and Columbine High School in Colorado.

He described himself as a “human powder keg,” that was “just waiting to go BOOM!!!!”

Parker and Ward were a regular team, providing stories for the station’s “Mornin'” show on everything from breaking news to feature stories on subjects like child abuse. Their live spot Wednesday was nothing out of the ordinary: They were interviewing a local official at an outdoor shopping mall for a tourism story before the shots rang out.

As Parker screamed and Ward collapsed, Ward’s camera kept rolling, capturing the image of the suspect pointing the gun. WDBJ quickly switched to the anchor back at the station, clearly shocked, who told viewers, “OK, not sure what happened there.”

Parker and Ward died at the scene. Their interview subject, Vicki Gardner, also was shot, but emerged from surgery later Wednesday in stable condition.

Flanagan, 41, who was fired from WDBJ in 2013, was described by the station’s president and general manager, Jeffrey Marks, as an “an unhappy man” and “difficult to work with,” always “looking out for people to say things he could take offense to.”

“Eventually after many incidents of his anger coming to the fore, we dismissed him. He did not take that well,” Marks said. He recalled that police had to escort Flanagan out of the building because he refused to leave when he was fired.

Tweets posted Wednesday on the gunman’s Twitter account – since suspended – described workplace conflicts with both victims. He said he filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Parker, and that Ward had reported him to human resources.

Marks said Flanagan alleged that other employees made racially tinged comments to him, but that his EEOC claim was dismissed and none of his allegations could be corroborated.

“We think they were fabricated,” the station manager said.

Dan Dennison, now a state government spokesman in Hawaii, was the WDBJ news director who hired Flanagan in 2012 and fired him in 2013, largely for performance issues, he said.

“We did a thorough investigation and could find no evidence that anyone had racially discriminated against this man,” Dennison said. “You just never know when you’re going to work how a potentially unhinged or unsettled person might impact your life in such a tragic way.”

Court records and recollections from former colleagues at a half-dozen other small-market stations where he bounced around indicate that Flanagan was quick to file complaints. He was fired at least twice after managers said he was causing problems with other employees.

Both Parker and Ward grew up in the Roanoke area, attended high school there and later interned at the station. After Parker’s internship, she moved to a smaller market in Jacksonville, North Carolina, before returning to WDBJ. She was dating Chris Hurst, an anchor at the station and had just moved in with him.

“We were together almost nine months,” Hurst posted on Facebook. “It was the best nine months of our lives. We wanted to get married. We just celebrated her 24th birthday. She was the most radiant woman I ever met.”

Ward, who played high school football, was a devoted fan of his alma mater, Virginia Tech. His colleagues said he rarely, if ever, missed a game. They called him a “happy-go-lucky guy” – even during the early morning hours that are the proving ground for so many beginning journalists.

Ward’s fiancee, station producer Melissa Ott, was in the control room marking her last day on the job when the shots rang out. Ward had planned to follow her to her new job in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Marks helped lead the live coverage Wednesday after the station confirmed its two employees were dead. He said he and his staff covered the story despite their grief, to honor their slain colleagues.

“Our hearts are broken,” he said. “Our sympathy goes to the entire staff here, but also the parents and family of Alison Parker and Adam Ward, who were just out doing their job today.”

___

Ramsey reported from Charleston, West Virginia. Drew reported from Hardy, Virginia.

___

This story has been corrected to show that Flanagan was fired from WDBJ in 2013, not this year.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Spiffy, On-Demand Mobile Car Wash Solution, Expands to Charlotte

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