A long time municipal employee opened fired at his workplace at a civic body building in Virginia Beach, a popular sea-side tourist destination in Virginia state about three hours drive from Washington DC, killing at least 12 and injuring 4 people on Thursday afternoon.
The gunman was killed in an exchange of fire with police officers. But, he had not been identified by authorities till the time of reporting and his motives remained unknown.
News reports identified him as DeWayne Craddock, 40.
“This is the most devastating day in the history of Virginia Beach,” Mayor Bobby Dyer said to reporters. “People involved friends, co-workers, neighbors, colleagues.”
This was the 150th case of mass shooting —- any incident with four or more fatalities or injuries, according to some definitions — in the United States in 2019, according to Gun Violence Archive, which tracks gun violence. A total of 5,778 have died in gun violence so far. 1,332 of the victims of gun violence were under 16 years of age.
Shooting started at around 4 pm, around when workers at the municipal office were getting ready to wind up for the day and the weekend. The shooter used a handgun and a rifle and went shooting from floor to floor, at the multilevel building of a public utilities department.
Police chief James Cervera told reporters that victims were found on all three floors of the building and, one of them outside. He said the suspect had used a handgun with a “sound suppressor” and an enhanced magazine.
Though the shooter’s motives were still unclear, comparisons were drawn to a February shooting in Aurora, Illinois state, when an employee of a private firm,who had been fired two weeks ago, opened fire at his work place killing five people, including a human resource department manager.