On Friday evening, a disgruntled employee of a Virginia Beach public utilities center entered his workplace and killed at least 12 people, injuring half a dozen others.
The employee’s rampage was stopped by the quick actions of several law enforcement officers, one of which was shot by the assailant in his bullet-proof, life-protective vest.
As the Associated Press reports, officials used a press conference on Saturday morning to identify and pay respects to the Virginia Beach municipal building victims. City Manager Dave Hansen said 11 of 12 were city employees and confirmed their families had been notified.
CNN reports Police Chief James Cervera identified the victims as:
- Lakita C. Brown
- Tara Walsh Gallagher
- Mary Louise Gale
- Alexander Mikhail Gusev
- Katherine A. Nixon
- Richard H. Nettleton
- Christopher Kelly Rapp
- Ryan Cox
- Joshua A. Hardy
- Michelle “Missy” Langer
- Robert “Bobby” Williams
- Herbert “Bert” Snelling
With the exception of Brown and Williams who lived in Chesapeake, Nettleton who lived in Norfolk, and Rapp who lived in Powhatan, the rest of the victims were Virginia Beach residents.
During the morning presser, the shooter was identified only once by the police chief, who said the focus should remain on the victims and their families.
Concerning the gunman, CNN reports:
Police Chief James Cervera confirmed that the gunman was DeWayne Craddock, an engineer with the city’s public utility department “for approximately 15 years.”
The gunman’s family has been notified of his involvement and death, Cervera said. This would be the only time Cervera would mention his name, he said.
— Advertisement — Cervera said his investigators still don’t know Craddock’s motive.
Asked if Craddock had threatened anyone in the building previously, Cervera said: “I’m not at liberty to give that information, because it’s part of the (investigation process.)”
Craddock was still employed, Hansen said.
And, via the Associated Press:
Dewayne Antonio Craddock, 40, was a professional engineer who had graduated from Denbigh High School in nearby Newport News in 1996 and joined the Army National Guard, according to a newspaper clip from the time. He received basic military training and advanced individual training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He later graduated from Old Dominion University with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. Before going to work in Virginia Beach, he worked for a private engineering firm in Hampton Roads.
Craddock appears to have had no felony record, which would have made him eligible to purchase firearms.
People who live near Craddock said police swarmed the small neighborhood of modest townhomes in Virginia Beach on Friday where some said he had lived for at least 10 years.
Several neighbors said Craddock was clean cut, a member of the neighborhood association board and spent time lots of time at the gym. But they also said he mostly kept to himself, especially after his wife left him some number of years ago.