MORE FAMILIES DEMAND ANSWERS
Citing city’s lack of transparency, they demand information
The families of two more victims in the Virginia Beach mass shooting are joining Jason Nixon in calling for an independent investigation.
Two other families of victims who died last month in a mass shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center have called for the city to start an independent investigation.
Debbie Borato, the sister of Missy Langer who died in the May 31 shooting, said Monday her family can’t fully mourn because the city isn’t sharing much information during the ongoing police investigation. Borato wants the city to immediately release the shooter’s personnel file to the public, something the city has refused to do.
“I believe they are holding back information,” Borato said. “Somebody just doesn’t do something like this. I don’t think any of us are going to be at peace until we have an answer.”
Two of Joshua O. Hardy’s sisters also expressed displeasure with the lack of information from the city. They, too, are wondering about the discrepancies between the information the city has released and other allegations about the shooter’s behavior at work.
“They’re not being transparent. They’re not being forthcoming,” Hardy’s sister Denise A. Smallwood said Monday. “I just feel like something was going on that they’re not telling us.”
Langer, 60, worked as an administrative assistant in the public utilities department for 12 years. Hardy, 52, had been an engineering technician in the department for 4½ years.
Their families are the second and third to demand more transparency from the city, which has not revealed any potential motives for the massacre of 12 people 2½ weeks ago. The shooter, also an employee of the city, was fatally shot while exchanging gunfire with police.
Borato said she was moved to speak after hearing Jason Nixon, whose wife was also killed, demanding the same information from the city.
Before the shooting, Kate Nixon had told her husband that she wrote disciplinary notes about the gunman’s attitude and work performance. Jason Nixon said his wife also feared another employee who was fired the week of the shooting. Jason Nixon told The Pilot he encouraged his wife to take a pistol to work for protection, but she didn’t want to break the city’s policy banning employees from carrying firearms at the workplace.
Smallwood and another sister of Hardy’s, Cassandra “DD” Hardy, also expressed concerns about contradictions between Nixon’s husband’s assertions and the city’s.
City Manager Dave Hansen denied last week media reports that the shooter got into physical altercations and confrontations at work. Hansen has also said the shooter’s work performance was considered satisfactory.
“We keep hearing that he had issues and that he was written up,” DD Hardy said of the shooter. “We’re hearing all this stuff, but they’re not coming forward and saying what actually happened. We’re just left to guess.”
If the public has unanswered questions after the conclusion of the criminal investigation, Hansen said that would be the appropriate time to discuss an independent probe.
After Hansen released that statement, Deputy City Manager Tom Leahy said in an email to Borato: “I can tell you that there is a lot of information on social media and in the news media that is not true. Please have patience and withhold judgement until the City releases its investigations. Our information will be supported by facts and evidence.”
Borato replied that city management is patronizing the victims’ families and the public. Borato said she doesn’t think it makes sense that the shooter showed no warning signs before gunning down his co-workers. She said city officials have told her to ignore reports about the gunman having issues at work, but Borato said she is having a hard time trusting that Hansen is revealing all he knows.
“We want answers,” Borato said from her home in Florida. “We can’t be patient. I want to know now.”
During a City Council meeting on Tuesday, Mayor Bobby Dyer said he has complete confidence that law enforcement will reveal its discoveries. He said he will consider an external review after the police investigation concludes if the public still feels it is necessary.
“Everybody in this room, everybody in this city, everybody in the nation wants some answers,” Dyer said. “There are hundreds of people that require interviewing. It is going to be a long and lengthy process.”