Murders of Alison Parker and Adam Ward

On February 20, 2020, Andy Parker filed a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission alleging that YouTube had failed to enforce its own Terms of Service by keeping certain videos of the shooting on its website. In October 2021, Parker filed a similar complaint to the FTC about Facebook. In February 2022, it was reported that Parker had created a non-fungible token from the video material recorded by Ward's camera in an attempt to claim copyright as a means of pressuring social media platforms to remove the video.

In 2019, Vicki Gardner filed a $6 million civil suit against WDBJ for being "negligent in hiring Vester Lee Flanagan II, who wounded her and killed journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward, then himself". On June 26, 2020, a Franklin County Circuit Court dismissed the case.

In sworn testimony before Congress in July 2019, Andy Parker credited the HONR Network in assisting him to combat offensive online material and hoaxes spread after the tragedy, saying

On the morning of August 26, 2015, news reporter Alison Parker and photojournalist Adam Ward, both employees of CBS affiliate WDBJ in Roanoke, Virginia, United States, were fatally shot while conducting a live television interview near Smith Mountain Lake in Moneta. They were interviewing Vicki Gardner, executive director of the local chamber of commerce, when all three were attacked by a gunman. Parker, age 24, and Ward, age 27, died at the scene, while Gardner survived.

Vicki Gardner is originally from Union Springs, New York, and has been the executive director of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce since 2002. She underwent surgery in which her right kidney and part of her colon were removed and was released from the hospital on September 8, 2015.

The gunman was 41-year-old Vester Lee Flanagan II, a former reporter at WDBJ who had been fired in 2013 for disruptive conduct. After a five-hour manhunt, Flanagan shot himself during a car chase with police officers and died later at a hospital.

WDBJ dismissed Flanagan on February 1, 2013, citing his volatile behavior. According to a former colleague, upon learning of his dismissal, Flanagan lashed out at newsroom staffers, resulting in the staffers being put in a room while police escorted him out of the building. Ward allegedly recorded Flanagan as he was escorted out, and the two men had a confrontation earlier that day. Flanagan allegedly threw a wooden cross at Dennison, saying, "You need this."

WDBJ announced on April 19, 2012, that they hired Flanagan as a multimedia journalist under the professional name Bryce Williams. Documents relating to his time at WDBJ suggest that the station's management considered him an experienced reporter, but there were conflicts with other reporters and with photographers. Office memos from WDBJ showed that news director Dan Dennison ordered Flanagan to contact Health Advocate in July 2012 after receiving complaints that co-workers were "feeling threatened or uncomfortable" while working with him. It is unclear whether he did so prior to his dismissal.

Following the murders, Patrick Henry Community College and the PHCC Foundation created the Alison Bailey Parker Memorial Scholarship to remember Parker, who graduated from the college in 2009. The scholarship is awarded annually to a student studying in a Media Design and Production program. In 2017, JMU dedicated a soundstage and control room in Harrison Hall to Parker, naming it the Alison B. Parker studio. JMU's Media Arts & Design School also established the Alison B. Parker Memorial Fund in her honor.

Parker's father, Andy Parker, said that he would become an advocate on the issue of gun violence prevention, comparing it to John Walsh's advocacy of crime prevention. He said that he would speak with politicians and news outlets to address mental health issues and improve care for those with mental illnesses. He had run as a Democratic candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates in 2007. However, he was not elected, and he urged politicians to strengthen laws against gun violence. Andy Parker's comments were made against pressure from the National Rifle Association (NRA), whom he criticized for preventing lawmakers from passing such legislation in the past. He criticized Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, the latter of whom criticized the NRA for obstructing efforts by the General Assembly and Congress to tighten background checks for gun purchases, for not directly contacting his family following the announcement that his daughter was one of the victims. Staff members for Senator Kaine explained that he had not contacted the victims' families at the time "out of respect for their space and privacy during this difficult time of grieving". The same reasoning was cited by Warner on August 29, who said he did not immediately contact Parker's family out of respect to the family's privacy "at a time of unimaginable grief".

ABC News received a 23 page fax at 8:26 a.m. allegedly sent by Flanagan entitled, "Suicide Note for Friend & Family". In the document, Flanagan described his grievances over what he alleged to be racial discrimination and sexual harassment committed by black men and white women in his workplace, believing that he was targeted because he was a homosexual black man. He claimed to have been provoked by the Charleston church shooting, two months before, and made threatening comments about Dylann Roof, the perpetrator of that crime. Flanagan described the church shooting as a "tipping point", saying that his anger had been "building steadily" and describing himself as "a human powder keg ... just waiting to go BOOM". A spokesman for the Franklin County Sheriff's Office said that Flanagan "very closely identified" with "individuals who have committed domestic acts of violence and mass murder, as well as the September 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S." Flanagan said that Jehovah had told him to act and expressed an admiration for Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who perpetrated the 1999 Columbine High School massacre; and Seung-Hui Cho, the perpetrator of the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting. Flanagan said in the note, "Yeah I'm all fucked up in the head."

Flanagan lost his job due to "odd behavior" in March 2000. He filed a civil lawsuit against WTWC alleging racial discrimination, as he was African-American. The lawsuit was settled under unspecified terms in January 2001. WTWC's owner, Sinclair Broadcast Group, had shut down all the station's news operations in November 2000 due to poor ratings and budget reductions. Flanagan worked for CBS affiliate WNCT-TV in Greenville, North Carolina, from 2002–2004. He also found some work at ABC affiliate KMID in Midland, Texas.

Flanagan worked as a general assignment news reporter at CBS affiliate WTOC-TV in Savannah, Georgia, from February 1997 to March 1999. Between March 1999 and March 2000 he worked as a reporter for NBC affiliate WTWC-TV in Tallahassee, Florida, where he reported to news director Don Shafer that co-workers were making offensive comments about his sexual orientation. In an interview with The Daily Mail, former WTWC sports reporter Dave Leval claimed that Flanagan verbally abused two female staffers at the station on different occasions after they pointed out mistakes in his reporting, and that several photographers had tried to get out of working on stories to which Flanagan was assigned due to his "diva" behavior.

Alison Bailey Parker (August 19, 1991 – August 26, 2015) grew up in Martinsville, Virginia, and attended Patrick Henry Community College and James Madison University (JMU). She interned at WDBJ in 2012, worked as a general assignment news reporter at ABC affiliate WCTI-TV in New Bern, North Carolina, from December 2012 until May 2014, and then was hired by WDBJ in 2014 as a correspondent for Mornin'.

Adam Laing Ward (May 10, 1988 – August 26, 2015) was born in Daleville, Virginia. He grew up in Salem and graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in communications and media studies in 2011. He had worked at the station since July 2011 as a videographer, as well as an occasional sports reporter.

Vester Lee Flanagan II (October 8, 1973 – August 26, 2015) was known by the professional name Bryce Williams and was a native of Oakland, California. He graduated from Skyline High School and attended San Francisco State University, earning a degree in radio and television in 1995. He interned at CBS affiliate KPIX-TV in San Francisco in 1993, eventually working there as a production assistant and weekend news writer. He had also been a small-time actor and model before beginning his career in journalism.

At the time of the shooting, Alison Parker and Adam Ward were conducting a live interview with Vicki Gardner at Moneta's Bridgewater Plaza about upcoming events for the 50th anniversary of Smith Mountain Lake, 26 miles (42 km) southeast of Roanoke. The shooting occurred at 6:46 a.m. EDT in the middle of the segment, which was broadcast on WDBJ's morning news program Mornin'. Video of the incident showed Parker conducting the interview when at least eight gunshots were heard, followed by screams. Ward's camera fell to the ground, briefly capturing the image of Flanagan holding a Glock 19 9mm pistol.