A former Fox News employee committed suicide outside the cable network's midtown offices early Monday, just moments after handing out fliers to other travelers protesting that the company had "ended his career."

Phillip Perea shot himself early Monday after recently arriving in Manhattan from Austin, Texas, where he once worked with a local Fox affiliate. Investigators said the 41-year-old victim left a suicide note and a revolver was recovered at the scene.

In recent days, Perea had also taken to social media to post several YouTube videos about workplace bullying and had also directly complained about his former employer on his Twitter page.

"Congratulations FOX, this is all the money I have left to my name, $104," Perea posted in Twitter rant. "Left, right secular or Christian, it didn't matter," he wrote in another. "Those who had the power to make a difference never listened."

The Austin Chronicle reports Perea was dismissed from the KTBC news station back in late May after Austin police chief Art Acevedo took exception with an unflattering picture of his likeness Perea posted to his Facebook page.

The exchange between Perea and Acevedo was at least partly sparked by the widespread criticism the chief received following a press conference he recently held related to the jaywalking arrest of jogger Amanda Jo Stephen.

"In other cities there's cops who are actually committing sexual assaults on duty, so I thank God that this is what passes for controversy in Austin, Texas," The Chronicle reported Acevedo told reporters back then.

Fox News is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. parent company and shares a midtown location as the Wall Street Journal. Company officials have not publicly spoken about the incident.

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