US TV shooting suspect dies in hospital

The man suspected of killing two journalists as they carried out a live interview in Virginia has died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Vester Lee Flanagan, also known as Bryce Williams, died on Wednesday at a hospital in northern Virginia outside Washington, after the shooting in the state's southern city of Roanoke, Franklin County Sheriff Bill Overton told reporters.

Flanagan fled the scene after fatally shooting WDBJ reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward while they were conducting an interview in the town of Moneta, outside Roanoke in southern Virginia, authorities said.

Parker and Ward died at the scene, Overton said.

The woman they were interviewing, local chamber of commerce official Vicki Gardner, was in stable condition, according to Chris Turnbull, a spokesman for the hospital in Roanoke where she was being treated.

Flanagan left his own car at the local airport, trading it for a vehicle he apparently rented a month ago.

He was eventually spotted by Virginia state police but "refused to stop and sped away." A minute or two later, the suspect's car ran off the highway, apparently after he shot himself, according to state police Sergeant Rick Garletts.

The suspect was taken to hospital but died from the gunshot wound.

"We're just very saddened and just sickened... by this horrific event," Roanoke Mayor David Bowers told CNN.