Virginia Beach officials have identified the 12 people killed Friday night when a lone gunman entered a municipal building and opened fire with a handgun.
Dave Hansen, City Manager of Virginia Beach, said that all but one of the victims were employees, most of whom he knew personally.
“Sixteen Hours ago the lives of 12 people were cut short by a senseless, incomprehensible act of violence,” he said at a press conference Saturday morning.
“All but one of the 12 victims were employees of the city of Virginia Beach. I have worked with most of them for many years. We want you to know who they were so in the days and weeks to come you will learn what they meant to all of us, to their families, to their friends and to their coworkers. They leave a void that we will never be able to fill.”
A longtime city employee opened fire at the building Friday before police shot and killed him, authorities said. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Hansen used Saturday’s press conference to focus on the victims as other officials provided few details about the suspected gunman.
Virginia Beach Police Chief James Cervera identified the gunman as DeWayne Craddock, who was employed as an engineer with the city's public utilities department for 15 years. Craddock died in a gun battle with police. Cervera declined to comment on a motive.
Cervera said this would be "the only time we will announce his name."
Among the victims, Laquita C. Brown from Chesapeake, who worked for over four years as Right-of-Way Agent. Mary Louise Gayle, a resident of Virginia Beach, served as a Right-of-Way agent for over 24 years and Alexander Mikhail Gusev, also from Virginia Beach, shared the same title for 9 years.
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Tara Welch Gallagher, from Virginia Beach, worked as an engineer for six years.
Engineer Christopher Kelly Rapp had only been with the Public Works for 11 months at the time of his death.
Katherine A Nixon, an engineer for 10 years and Richard H. Nettleton, an engineer for 28 years, were two Public Utilities employees that were also killed.
Family members gather outside the Princess Anne Middle School in Virginia Beach, Va, on Friday, May 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Vicki Cronis-Nohe)
Ryan Keith Cox worked as an account clerk in the same division for almost 13 years.
Joshua A Hardy, also with Public Utilities, served as an engineering technician for over four years.
Michelle Langer, or Missy as she was known by coworkers, was an administrative assistant with the Public Utilities division for 12 years.
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The longest-serving employee who was killed in Friday’s shooting was Robert “Bobby” Williams who worked as a Public Utilities Special Projects Coordinator for 41 years.
Hansen identified the final victim - who was not a city employee - as Herbert Snelling, a contractor from Virginia Beach.
Virginia Beach Police Chief James Cervera said this would be "the only time we will announce his name." (AP Photo/Vicki Cronis-Nohe)
Officials offered little details surrounding the shooting other than police had found several more guns on the building property and at the suspect's home.
“We did recover additional weapons at the scene, I’m not at liberty to tell what those weapons are at this time. We also recovered additional weapons at the suspect’s home," Cervera said.
He would not comment on a possible motive but said that Craddock had still been an employee at the time of the shooting and was able to access the building using his security pass. He did note, however, that citizen would be able to enter the "open government building."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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