Disciplined radio employee quits after hoax comments

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A Springfield radio station employee quit after refusing to back down from his suggestion the on-air killings of two Virginia journalists were a hoax.

Part-time telephone screener Rick Kennedy, who goes by the on-air name Rick Masters, told the Springfield News-Leader the shooting was probably faked "to create more conversation about gun laws."

The newspaper reported he described his reasons for quitting in a Facebook post.

The initial comments were made during an Aug. 30 discussion between call-in show host Joe Rios and Kennedy on the Sunday morning show called "Cracker Barrel," which airs on KTTS-FM, KSGF-FM and KSGF-AM.

Kennedy and Rios said their suspicions about the Aug. 28 shooting, during which Vester Flanagan opened fire on his former co-workers during a live interview, were spurred by videos that had been posted on the Internet.