Photographer Adam Ward and reporter Alison Parker were carrying out the interview for broadcaster WDBJ7 at a recreation site near the town of Moneta, Virginia when gunshots were fired at 06.45 local time (1045 UTC) according to the CNN network.

Both 27-year-old Ward and 24-year-old Parker were killed.

On the video taken by Ward's camera which continued to operate after he had been shot, a man in black pants and a blue top appeared to be holding a handgun.

The reporters were interviewing the head of the executive director of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce, Vicki Gardner about tourism at Bridgewater Plaza, a recreation site with restaurants, shops, boating and arcades and holiday rentals.

Gardner was wounded in the shooting and is in emergency care in a local hospital.

Video

Video posted online showed Parker scream as six or seven shots were fired. Ward's camera was still running during the shooting and the footage is being used to help identify the killer.

Police launched a manhunt and in the late morning were reported to have arrested a man who was in critical condition with a gunshot wound.

WDBJ7 station manager Jeffrey Marks called the incident "a terrible crime against two fine journalists."

The area is in the south-central part of Virginia, about 120 miles (190 km) from the state capital of Richmond.

Schools have been closed until the suspect is detained, according to Ryan Edwards, spokesman for Bedford County Schools.

jm/jil (AFP, Reuters)