The former Virginia TV reporter who shot and killed two journalists, then turned the gun on himself, had a volatile temper, recalled the news director who hired and fired him.

“He was just an evil, evil individual,” said Dan Dennison, now a spokesman for the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Dennison spoke to the media at the Kalanimoku Building in Honolulu on Thursday in the wake of the deaths of WDBJ7 reporter Alison Parker, 24, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27, who were gunned down by Vester Flanagan while on assignment early Wednesday.

“It’s just so frightening,” he said. “It’s like something out of Hollywood that you would never see in real life. My heart just bleeds for the families of those two really great, decent young people and for all their colleagues that are at the TV station.”

In a phone interview from Roanoke, Va., Thursday, WDBJ7 President and General Manager Jeff Marks said of Parker and Ward, “They were full of exuberance and humor. They worked very well together as a team.”

Flanagan fatally shot himself in the head following a car chase with police.

Flanagan took a break from his career in television broadcast news for about eight to 10 years before joining WDBJ7.

Dennison said he hired Flanagan as a multimedia journalist in March 2012. Flanagan used Bryce Williams as his on-air name.

“He appeared to be an up-and-coming, energetic person who we could really work with and help him improve his skill set,” Dennison said.

He started out as a good reporter, but two months later colleagues reported Flanagan became temperamental while on a breaking news assignment.

Dennison said Flanagan entered a live-signal relay truck and started screaming at the top of his lungs. He could not recall what Flanagan was yelling about, but colleagues who were in the truck called Dennison to complain. One reporter told the news director she felt threatened.

Complaints from co-workers continued, primarily from photographers, who told management Flanagan was difficult to work with, Dennison said.

Dennison recalled Ward approaching him and the human resources director about a problem he had with Flanagan while on assignment.

Flanagan, who was black, also made complaints alleging race-based mistreatment and discrimination against him in the newsroom. He accused Parker, who was an intern at the time, of making a racial slur against him. Dennison said the complaints were unfounded.

“He made numerous allegations against staff and co-workers that they have made racial comments or racial slurs against him. We thoroughly investigated every single one that he brought forward. They were completely baseless,” said Dennison.

In February 2013 Dennison fired Flanagan, citing problems with his on-air performance.

On the day he was fired, Flanagan erupted shortly after the human resources director handed him a severance pay document, Dennison recalled.

“He got very angry very quick, slammed his fist on the table, cussed, walked out of the room.”

Then he returned to the newsroom, sat at his desk and started to make phone calls. Dennison called police to have Flanagan escorted out of the building.

For about five minutes police tried to get Flanagan to leave. Before he left, Flanagan threw a small wooden cross at Dennison and told him, “You’re going to need this.”

Ward, who was standing in the back of the newsroom, recorded Flanagan to document the outburst for internal office records. Dennison said, “I remember Bryce stared at him, flipped him the bird, cussed at him.” Off-duty police officers patrolled the news station grounds 24 hours a day for about a week following Flanagan’s termination.

The fatal shooting of Parker and Ward occurred 2-1/2 years after Flanagan was fired.

“Had any of us who were involved in hiring him and terminating him obviously had any inclination that it would result in this, I think at that point we would’ve done something to try to prevent it,” said Dennison. “But it’s not something that anyone other than this jerk, quite frankly, could’ve prevented.”