Virginia Beach police ID shooter as civil engineer
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A man who worked for Virginia Beach as a public utilities engineer was identified by city officials as the suspect who shot and killed a dozen people Friday at a municipal services complex before losing his own life in a gunbattle with police.
Virginia Beach Police Chief James Cervera on Saturday identified the suspect as DeWayne Craddock, 40, who had worked for the city for 15 years.
Police said they do not yet have a motive. Cervera, in response to a reporter’s question at a news conference Saturday, said the gunman had not been fired.
Police officials said they found multiple weapons at the scene of the shooting and later at Craddock’s home.
Craddock appeared to have had no felony record, making him eligible to purchase guns.
Government investigators identified two .45-caliber pistols used in the attack, said Ashan Benedict, the regional special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
All indications were that the shooter purchased the weapons legally, one in 2016 and one in 2018, Benedict said. The police chief said at least one had a noise suppressor.
Authorities recovered two other guns from Craddock’s home, one of which was also purchased legally, he said. He said authorities were still looking into the purchase of the fourth weapon.
Craddock fired indiscriminately after entering the building,” Cervera said.
Craddock 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.
A professional website for Virginia engineers described Craddock as a graduate of Old Dominion University with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. A university spokesperson confirmed he graduated from the school with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering in 2002.
A 2003 report in Dolan’s Virginia Business Observer said Craddock had joined a consulting firm called MAS PC and was a project engineer. At Virginia Beach, his name appeared as a point of contact on community releases about local utility projects that would affect neighborhoods.
Neighbors described Craddock as a car enthusiast and bodybuilder.
On a quiet cul-de-sac where Craddock lived in Virginia Beach, several neighbors said Craddock tended to keep to himself.
Amanda Archer, 22, and Cassetty Howerin, 23, said they were shocked to learn that their upstairs neighbor was named as the shooter.
Craddock was a quiet, reserved man, they said, who rarely spoke to them as they passed outside their gray duplex.
Archer said Craddock was normally gone early Monday through Thursday but on Fridays, often had a later start to his day.
So, Archer was a bit surprised, she said, when she saw him sitting in his white Subaru, staring straight ahead at around 6:45 a.m. Friday as she headed to work.
“It was one of those things were I thought I could wave, say ‘Hey, have a nice day,’ but I know he’s kind of to himself and doesn’t really care for people to be all up in his face,” Archer said. “I thought I’ll just get in my car and go to work. He was still sitting there by the time I left.”
The two neighbors moved in a year ago and were scheduled to move out Saturday.
They said they never spoke to Craddock for long and didn’t remember him having visitors, even on holidays.
“He was just to himself,” Archer said. “He just seemed like the kind of person who was just to himself and didn’t mess with the outside world much.”
When they moved in a year ago, the women said they noticed three cameras in two windows from Craddock’s residence that appeared to be focused on the parking lot. They said they had the impression the cameras were there to protect his two cars, a gray Camaro — that he drove on weekends — and the Subaru he took to work.
“He wasn’t much of a talker,” Archer recalled. “He’s a mystery to us. He’s a mystery to everybody, apparently.”
Another neighbor, Christian Coble, 30, said he had met Craddock a couple of times while taking out the trash and remembered him because Coble’s father’s name also is Dewayne.
“He said he worked for the city,” Coble said, calling Craddock “humble” and “average.”
“He seemed like an all right dude,” he said. “I guess you never know what someone is going through.”