WDBJ Chief: I'm Not Sure Whether I Want The Shooter To Live Or Die

WDBJ General Manager Jeff Marks made candid remarks after reports came in that ex-employee Vester Lee Flanagan, the suspect in the fatal shooting of two journalists  from the station, was in critical condition Wednesday.

“I’m stepping out of my role as a journalist here: I’m not really sure if I want him to live or die. If he dies, he takes the coward's way out. If he lives, he’ll go to trial," Marks said on WDBJ, in a span of the broadcast that was streamed on CNN . He acknowledged, "I know I’m speaking out of turn here ... We're hurt enough that we want to express our anger."

Flanagan shot himself during a highway pursuit by Virginia state troopers around 11:30 a.m., state police said in a news conference Wednesday afternoon. He was admitted to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries and died around 1:30 p.m. , police said.