President Obama is calling on the US Congress to reconsider fresh attempts at gun control following the horrific murder of a TV reporter and her cameraman in the middle of a live report in Virginia.
Alison Parker and Adam Ward were gunned down on-the-air by a former colleague.
Vester Flangan, who had also worked as a reporter at WDBJ TV, went on to commit suicide during the manhunt for him.
Our Washington Correspondent Simon Marks reports.
IN: "In the sordid…."
OUT: SOC
DUR: 3:23
AIR: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0827shootingspkg-sm-air.mp3
ARN: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0827shootingspkg-sm-arn.mp3
FM4: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0827shootingspkg-sm-fm4.mp3
ICRT: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0827shootingspkg-sm-icrt.mp3
NIGERIA: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0827shootingspkg-sm-von.mp3
RNZ: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0827shootingspkg-sm-rnz.mp3
VATICAN: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0827shootingspkg-sm-vat.mp3
ZIZ: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0827shootingspkg-sm-ziz.mp3
GENERIC: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0827shootingspkg-sm-generic.mp3
In the sordid and sad history of America's track record with gun violence, Wednesday's attack saw something new.
Two television employees cut down by a deranged murderer live on the air….reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward…shot to death in the middle of a totally routine live interview for their local station's breakfast-time program.
And then the crime was seen again….this time from the gunman's perspective….in video that he filmed on his cellphone as he was carrying out the murders.
He found time as he escaped the scene to upload it to Twitter in what amounted to a grotesque digital claim of responsibility for his crimes.
AXX - OBAMA
President Obama, by chance giving a series of interviews at the White House to America's local television anchors, expressed his sorrow at the loss of their industry colleagues.
And a fresh determination to try and get some measure of gun control through the US Congress.
AXX OBAMA
The gunman….41 year old Vester Flanagan….now appears to have borne an uncontrolled grudge towards his former colleagues at television station WDBJ.
He worked there from 2012 to 2013, but was fired after a series of altercations with his colleagues….including Alison Parker and Adam Ward.
In his addition to his post-attack activity on Twitter that preceded his suicide, he sent a rambling 23-page fax to ABC News.
Sherrif Bill Overton.
AXX - OVERTON
According to ABC, the document expressed admiration for previous mass killings in America.
Flanagan said he'd been inspired to act by the shooting at a bible class in Charleston, South Carolina earlier this year.
And he repeated claims that he'd been the victim of racist taunts at WDBJ….claims the station called unfounded.
Former colleague Michael Walker.
AXX - WALKER
Among those weighing-in on events in Virginia, Hillary Clinton.
She interrupted her day on the Presidential campaign trail to insist that America is - as she put it - "smart enough" to combat the epidemic of gun violence now on open display.
AXX - HILLARY
But she knows the shootings in Virginia have not in any way changed the political calculation about gun control.
The gun lobby remains as powerful as ever
Democrats in Congress remain as wary of the issue as ever.
And despite the fact that breakfast television on Wednesday delivered murder live into the homes of early morning viewers….those advocating for gun ownership here insist even rigid legal controls won't stop the determined and deranged from getting their hands on weapons.
SOC