Facebook and Twitter suspended the accounts of the shooter suspected in Wednesday’s deaths of two Virginia TV journalists.
A user by the name of Bryce Williams filmed himself shooting reporter Allison Parker and photographer Adam Ward in Moneta, Virginia.
He posted two videos on Twitter and one video on Facebook.
The video on Twitter showed someone walking up to Parker and Ward and pointing a gun at them. Another video showed the gun firing. A follow-up tweet said, “I filmed the shooting.”
Both Twitter and Facebook suspended the user’s profile pages within minutes. But not before the videos automatically played on the social media sites for anyone who viewed his accounts or a retweet of the original post.
Twitter took down Williams’ account within eight minutes of his posting the video, CNNMoney has confirmed.
Williams, whose given name was Vester L. Flanagan, had been a reporter for WDBJ, a CNN affiliate that where Ward and Parker also worked for.
He was fired from the station, according to WDBJ, although the reason was not made public.
A manhunt followed the shooting. Flanagan shot himself when confronted by officers. It wasn’t immediately clear whether he was killed or injured.
Facebook did not immediately respond to requests for comment.