VIRGINIA BEACH, VA – A disgruntled employee went on a shooting rampage in a city building in Virginia Beach, killing 12 people before he died after a fierce gunbattle with officers.
The massacre is the deadliest in the United States this year, and adds the Virginia coastal city to a grim list of places affected by a mass shooting.
Witnesses said they couldn’t believe this level of violence reached their community, their workplace.
“You see this on the news all the time and you pray for the people and hope they’re OK. But you never think it’s gonna happen to you,” said Megan Banton, who was in the building and barricaded with her coworkers.
“I have an 11-month-old baby at home, and all I could think about was him and trying to make it home to him.”
As the stunned community mourned and asked why, authorities said it’s too early to determine a motive.
“Right now, we have a lot of questions. The whys, they will come later. Right now, we have more questions than we have answers,” Virginia Beach Police Chief James Cervera said.
The gunfire started at the end of the workday Friday while people were still visiting the municipal center for business.
The shooter was identified as DeWayne Craddock, according to a law enforcement official and a Virginia government source. He fired indiscriminately through all three floors of Building 2 of the city’s municipal center.
Cervera described him as a current, longtime public utilities worker with Virginia Beach city. A Virginia government source briefed on the investigation told CNN the shooter was a “disgruntled employee.”
The 40-year-old worked as a certified professional engineer for the city in the public utilities department. He is listed on department news releases as a point of contact for information on local road projects over the past several years.
Craddock’s parents, reached by phone Friday evening, told CNN they weren’t aware their son had been involved in the shooting, and that law enforcement
hadn’t contacted them.
They confirmed their son worked for the city’s public works department, but said they weren’t aware of any trouble he was having with this employer.
In addition to the people killed, four others were hospitalized, police said. They had surgery Friday night, and three are in critical condition while one is in fair condition, hospital officials said.
An officer was shot in the gunfight, but survived because of his ballistic vest, the police chief said.
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