12 dead, 4 injured by gunman at Virginia Beach Municipal Center - Deadliest mass shooting in US so far this year

Justin Carissimo
CBS News
Fri, 31 May 2019 23:45 UTC

What we know so far:

• 12 people are dead, plus the gunman, who was killed in an exchange of gunfire with the police.
• The victims were found on three floors of the municipal building and one victim was found shot in car outside building.
• Four people were transported to local hospitals, more may have self-transported.
• The suspect, who has not yet been named, was a city employee.

At least 12 people are dead, plus the gunman, and four injured in a shooting at a Virginia Beach municipal building, authorities said. The gunman died in an exchange of gunfire with police, who rushed to the scene shortly after 4 p.m. local time.

A local police officer was wounded while confronting the gunman. Chief James Cervera said in a news conference Friday that the officer was saved by his bullet-proof vest. Cervera pledged to visit the wounded officer by the end of the night.

Police did not release the identity of the shooter, but Cervera said he was a long-time employee of the Public Utilities Department. "There's no way to describe an incident such as this," Cervera said.

"Today is Virginia Beach's darkest hour," said Mayor Bobby Dyer.

Follow along below for updates on the shooting.

"I don't say I'm in shock, I'm numbed," vice mayor says

Virginia Beach vice mayor James Wood said the building where the shooting occurred is a three-story building that is open to the public.

"I think the thing that's gone through my mind and everybody else is we know these people," Wood told CBSN in an interview. "I don't say I'm in shock, I'm numbed."

Wood, a former police officer, complimented the Virginia Beach police force for their response.

"Long-term gun battle," police chief says

Virigina Beach police chief James Cervera said at a late press conference that another victim had died on the way to the hospital, bringing the total number of victims to 12 plus the suspected gunman. Four people were taken to local hospitals, and Cervera said some other people had brought themselves to hospitals for treatment.

The suspect used a .45-caliber handgun with a sound suppressor, Cervera said. The suspect, a city employee, was also armed with several magazines. Cervera said they have identified the suspect but it will not be released until after family is notified.

Comment: Why use a suppressor if you're 'going out with a bang'?

Also, how does that square with this statement from Cervera:

Virginia Beach Police Chief James Cervera said officers were able to locate the suspect inside the building due to the sound of gunfire.

Four officers arrived to building, which houses public works, public utility and a printing operation, and heard the gunshots, the chief said at the news conference.

"They immediately engaged with the suspect, and I can tell you that it was a long gun battle between those four officers and that suspect," Cervera said.

The suspect first opened fire outside the building, and one victim was found shot in a car outside the building, Cervera said. Four officers responded and engaged in what Cervera described as a "long-term gun battle."

Victims were found on three floors of the municipal building.

At least 90 people have sought assistance from the family assistance center. They are still working on making proper notification of the victims.

"This day will not define Virginia Beach"

Virginia Beach Councilman Aaron Rouse sent a message of unity on Friday, saying the city would not be defined by the tragedy.

"We will determine, going forward today, how we respond to our city. We will come together. We will show the strength of our city," Rouse said at a news conference alongside local police.

Officials update on number of victims

At least 11 people were killed and six others were hospitalized after the shooting Friday, police said at a press conference Friday afternoon. They said the gunman, who was an employee at the building, was also killed.

A local police officer was wounded while confronting the shooter. Chief James Cervera said the officer was saved by his bullet-proof vest and pledged to visit the wounded officer by the end of the night.

Comment: So, did he kill all those people - one outside and 10 more inside, over 3 floors - and then engage in a 'long-term gun battle' with police?

Employees describe shooting scene

Megan Banton, an employee who works in the building, told WTKR she could only think about making it home safe to her baby.

"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," Branton said.

Sheila Cook, an employee at the courthouse in the building, said her coworkers didn't realize how close they were to the gunshots.

"We heard shooting, but we didn't think it was that close, like in proximity of the building," she said. "Thank God they were able to alert us in time. If it had been 10 minutes, we would have been outside."

Comment: Would they have even heard a suppressed .45??

And why was she relieved she was inside and not outside? Outside was surely safer, what with a gunman running around shooting people inside, on all three floors...

ATF and FBI assisting local authorities

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said they will be assisting local authorities with the investigation.

6 transported to local hospital

Five of the injured were transported to Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital and one person was transported to Sentara Princess Anne Hospital, WTKR reported. According to a Sentara spokesperson, the patient at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital is being air lifted to a trauma center at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.

The extent of the injuries are currently unclear.

Workers leave locked down building WTKR reporter Kofo Lasaki reports that people appear to be leaving one of the buildings at the scene that was on lockdown. It's unclear which building is being evacuated.

Where the shooting took place

The incident happened at Building 2 in the 2400 block of Courthouse Drive. WTKR reported that the building houses operations, public utilities and public works for the city. It is located in Virginia Beach's sprawling Municipal Center.

Suspect taken into custody

Virginia Beach police said one person was taken into custody after multiple people were injured in the shooting. They also advised the public to avoid the area.

Comment: So, which was it: Was he taken into custody, or killed on scene?

He may have died after being taken into custody.

UPDATE 14:00 UTC

Authorities have named the gunman as DeWayne Craddock, who worked as an engineer for Virginia Beach in its Public Utilities Department.

Bizarrely, or not, the VB PD planned to hold 'active shooter training' nearby, the next day:

The Virginia Beach Police Department had planned to hold an active shooter training on Saturday, City Councilman Michael Berlucchi confirmed to CNN's Don Lemon.

The Police Department had announced the "Active Threat Citizens Defense" event on Facebook. It aimed to "enhance preparedness for citizens to 'rise to the occasion' instead of 'settle to the level of their training,'" according to the Facebook page.

In the 'about', it says:

"You can't stop evil, you can only respond to it."

Update 22:00 UTC

They're now saying he also had a rifle on him, and that more guns were found at his home.

There's also this description of his behavior just before the shooting:

Joseph Scott, who said he worked with Craddock for several years, saw him in a bathroom at work Friday.

"He was at the sink, brushing his teeth like he always did," Scott told CNN. "I used the bathroom and walked up and was washing my hands, and I said, 'How are you doing?' He said he was doing OK. "I asked, 'Any plans for the weekend?' And he said, 'No.' And I said, 'Well, have a good day,' and he said the same to me. And it was no more than that."

Scott said Craddock was "what I thought was a good person," and described him as generally quiet.

"When we were together, we would talk about family, friends, things that we were going to do, trips we were going to take and things like that," Scott said.

Craddock's parents, reached Friday night, told CNN they weren't aware of any trouble that he was having with his employer

Another eyewitness reported:

Edward Weeden, who works in the building, told CNN affiliate WAVY that people heard someone falling in a stairwell and went to investigate. He and his coworkers saw a woman who was down, blood all over her face.

This suggests they did not hear any gunfire inside the building, indicating that the gunman used the suppressor the police found on a .45.

But then, how did the police locate him by following the sound of gunfire?

The local police chief Cervera has in fact "confirmed the suspect used a .45-caliber handgun with a sound suppressor..."

Here's another eyewitness report, in yesterday's NYT:

Zand Bakhtiari, 28, who works on the first floor of the city building where the shooting happened, looked out his window about 4 p.m. and saw people screaming and running. "I thought they were running to the scene of a bad car accident," he said in a telephone interview late Friday.

At that point, he had not heard any gunfire. But right after that, his boss, who had just left, called in an order to shelter in place: There was an active shooter. Mr. Bakhtiari and others in his office shut the door and got down.

He then heard 50 to 60 gunshots. "It was a lot of shots," he said. Five or 10 minutes later, a police SWAT team came and led them out. [emphasis Sott.net]

So yes, there was audible gunfire during the shoot-out - subsequent to the slaying of city employees, presumably - between the gunman and police. But until then, people inside the building had apparently not heard gunfire.