The Virginia Beach shooting occurred on the
afternoon of May 31, 2019, when a disgruntled city employee fatally shot twelve
people and wounded four others in a mass shooting at a municipal
building in the Princess Anne area of Virginia Beach, Virginia,
United States. He was later shot dead by police officers responding to the
scene.
I will post information
about the Mass shooter:
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DeWayne Craddock killed
12 people in a Virginia Beach municipal building before being shot dead by
police (Image: Reuters/UGC)
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DeWayne
Antonio Craddock (October 15, 1978 – May 31, 2019) was identified by police as
the perpetrator. He worked as an engineer in the city's public utilities
department until tendering his resignation in an email he sent to city
management a few hours before the attack. Having resigned "within good
standing in his department", Craddock still possessed a security pass to
enter employee work spaces within the building at the time of the attack. In
the days prior to the shooting, he was alleged to have been involved in
physical scuffles with fellow city employees and threatened with disciplinary
action. However, the city manager said that when Craddock resigned, he
"had no issues of discipline ongoing".
Within
the span of at least three years prior to the shooting, Craddock had legally
acquired multiple firearms. Two .45 ACP pistols were used in the shooting and two more weapons were
found at his home, one of which was another pistol of the .45 ACP caliber. The
fourth weapon is still being checked by authorities.
Craddock
graduated in 1996 from Denbigh High School in
Newport News. Between 1996 and 2002, he
served in the Virginia Army National Guard in Norfolk
as a cannon crew member with the First Battalion, 111th Field Artillery
Regiment. At the time of his discharge he held the rank of Specialist
(E-4) and had not
been deployed for combat service. In 2002, he graduated from Old Dominion University with a degree in
civil engineering.
Prior
to the shooting, Craddock did not have a criminal record with the exception of
minor traffic violations.
BREAKING,
Police Reveal Identity Of Virginia Beach Shooter
By
Reuters Wire
Published June 1, 2019 at 6:44am
Published June 1, 2019 at 6:44am
Virginia
Beach police named the gunman who killed 12 people and wounded four others at a
municipal building on Friday as DeWayne Craddock, saying he was a disgruntled
city engineer.
Craddock
was killed in a gun battle with police after opening fire with a pistol in the
building. All but one of his victims were employed by Virginia Beach, officials
said, and the other was a contractor seeking a permit.
Virginia
Beach Police Chief James Cervera told a news conference on Saturday that he
would only give the gunman’s name once because city authorities want to focus
on his victims.
Craddock
had worked for the city’s public utility department for about 15 years, Cervera
said. The police chief declined to comment on any possible motive, but said
additional weapons were recovered at the scene and from the suspect’s home.
Police
had previously said only that the suspect used a .45 caliber pistol equipped
with a “sound suppressor” device and extended ammunition magazines.
It was
the worst mass shooting in the United States since November 2018, when a dozen
people were slain at a Los Angeles-area bar and grill by a gunman who then
killed himself.
A
disgruntled public utility employee opened fire on co-workers at city offices
in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Friday afternoon, killing 12 people and
wounding several others before he was fatally shot by police, authorities said.
Virginia
Beach Police Chief James Cervera said the mass shooting in the coastal resort
city began as the gunman entered the public works and utilities building at the
city municipal center and “immediately and indiscriminately fired upon all the
victims.”
The chief
later said that the suspect engaged in a “long-term gun battle” with law
enforcement officers as police confronted him inside the building. One police
officer was wounded in the shootout, but his bullet-proof vest saved his life,
Cervera said.
The
police chief said the suspect was armed with a .45-caliber handgun equipped
with a “sound suppressor” device and was reloading his weapon with extended
ammunition magazines as he moved through the building.
Authorities
said the gunman ultimately was shot by police and was pronounced dead at a
hospital.
Cervera
said the suspect was a longtime public utilities employee, and described him as
“disgruntled,” but declined to say more about what may have precipitated the
attack.
The
shooting was believed to be the deadliest act of workplace gun violence in the
United States since February, when a factory worker shot five colleagues to
death in Aurora, Illinois, just after he was let go from his job.
Original
Story.
There was
a scene of terror and carnage at a Virginia Beach, Virginia courthouse that
left 11 people dead and many more injured.
The
attack occurred on Friday at the courthouse and hours later officials from the
city gave a press conference to tell the frightening facts.
“Right
now I can tell you we have multiple casualties, multiple fatalities. We have 11
deceased victims there at the scene, six more victims transported to area
hospitals, the police chief said.
“I do not
have the condition of the victims at this particular time. I can tell you one
of the individuals shot by the suspect is a Virginia Beach police officer and
he was saved by his vest.
“We
established a family assistance center, princess Anne middle school for the
employees that worked in building two, so they can meet up with their friends
and families.
“We’re
also in the process of identifying all of our victims so we can make personal notification
to family members. We know shortly after 4:00 P.M.
“This
afternoon, a suspect entered building two. He is a long time employee of public
utilities. I will not release his name at this time.
“And he
immediately began to indiscriminately fire on all of the victims. Officers
entered once the call went out, officers were at headquarters, they responded
to building two.
“They
secured as much of the victims as they could, and then they engaged with the
suspect. The suspect did shoot a police officer.
“Officers
returned fire. The suspect is deceased. When the scene is secure, we have a
long term investigative process that’s being undertaken there’s a lot of work
to be done.
“It is
still an active scene. We are being assisted due to size, scope, intensity of
this scene, being assisted by the FBI, forensics unit, dhs forensics unit, and
Virginia Beach state forensics unit.
“Medical
examiner is on route, protocol for the medical examiner’s office. Right now we
have a lot of questions. The whys, they will come later.
“Right
now we have more questions than we have answers. We’re a little more than two
hours into the event and we used the word event, that’s a cop term, a
devastating thing that happened that none of us want to talk about, this
devastating incident that will change the lives of a number of families from
our city.
“So my
goal will be to update you and confirm additional information as soon as we
can. Our next briefing should be at 21:30 hours. We have been told the governor
is enroute.
“We
notified state senators and other elected officials, offering condolences to
our city and to our family of those of us that work in Virginia Beach.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://thefederalistpapers.org/opinion/breaking-police-reveal-identity-virginia-beach-shooter
OTHER
LINKS:
These
are the 12 victims of the Virginia Beach mass shooting. Here are their stories.
Virginia
Beach shooting victim died trying to save co-workers, survivor says
