12 killed in shooting at US municipal office
VIRGINIA BEACH (AP) — A long-time city employee on Friday opened fire in a municipal building in Virginia Beach, killing 12 people on three floors and sending terrified co-workers scrambling for cover before police shot and killed him following a “long gunbattle,” according to authorities.
Four other people were wounded in the shooting, including a police officer whose bulletproof vest saved his life, Virginia Beach Police Chief James Cervera said. The city’s visibly shaken Mayor Bobby Dyer called it “the most devastating day in the history of Virginia Beach.”
The shooting happened shortly after 4 p.m. when the veteran employee of the Public Utilities Department entered a building in the city’s Municipal Center, and “immediately began to indiscriminately fire upon all of the victims,” Cervera said.
Authorities did not release the suspect’s name, instead choosing to focus on the victims during a news conference.
Police entered the building and got out as many employees as they could, then exchanged fire with the suspect, who was armed with a .45-caliber handgun, the chief said.
“It was a long gunbattle between those four officers and the suspect,” Cervera said, adding that officers gave the suspect first aid after he was shot, but he died.
Police initially said the gunman shot and killed 11 people, including one who was found inside a vehicle outside the municipal building. Cervera later said one more died on the way to the hospital.
The shooting sent shock waves through Virginia Beach, the state’s largest city and a popular vacation spot in southeastern Virginia. The building where the attack took place is in a suburban complex miles away from the high-rise hotels along the beach and the downtown business area.
In a statement, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said he was devastated by the “unspeakable, senseless violence,” and is offering the state’s full support to survivors and relatives of the victims.
“That they should be taken in this manner is the worst kind of tragedy,” the governor said during the news conference.
The White House said President Donald Trump had been briefed and was monitoring the situation.
Megan Banton, an administrative assistant who works in the building where the shooting happened, said she heard gunshots, called 911 and barricaded herself and about 20 colleagues inside an office, pushing a desk against a door.
“We tried to do everything we could to keep everybody safe,” Banton said. “We were all just terrified. It felt like it wasn’t real, like we were in a dream. You are just terrified because all you can hear (are) the gunshots.”