VIRGINIA BEACH 5/31 FAMILIES UNITED
VIRGINIA BEACH 5/31 FAMILIES UNITED
May 31, 2019 about
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On May 31, 2019, a mass shooting occurred at the Operations Municipal Building #2 of Virginia Beach, Virginia. The gunman, DeWayne Craddock, who was a disgruntled city employee, fatally shot 12 people and wounded four others before he was fatally shot by responding police officers. It is the second-deadliest workplace shooting in U.S. history after the 1986 Edmond post office shooting and the deadliest mass shooting in Virginia since the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting.
The perpetrator fatally shot a person in a car in the parking lot of Building 2 of the Virginia Beach Municipal Center and one person on the steps before entering the building and shooting people on all three floors. The building housed the city's public works, utilities, and planning departments in an open-government facility with no additional security to enter but security passes required for accessing employee areas and conference rooms. He fired indiscriminately and there was no immediate indication that he had targeted anyone in particular. He was fatally shot during a prolonged gunfight with police.
Some members of the public and employees were initially unaware of the shooter, and many were alerted by phone calls, text messages, or word of mouth to shelter in place or evacuate the location. The confusion was in part due to renovations that were underway at the time leading many to believe the shots were from a nail gun or another tool.
The police response to the shooting was slowed down due to electronic security doors that require a badge to open.
The shooter killed twelve people. Eleven were city employees and one was a contractor in the building to obtain a permit. The employees had a combined 150 years of service, one having worked there for 41 years. Six employees worked in the public utilities department, alongside their killer. Four other people were injured and hospitalized, with three in critical condition; in addition, a police officer was shot in his ballistic vest.
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