SHOCK AND SADNESS
MOTIVE IN VIRGINIA BEACH ATTACK STILL UNKNOWN
VIRGINIA BEACH — The morning after a 40-year-old city engineer opened fire on dozens of coworkers, killing 12 and seriously injuring four others in the deadliest shooting in Virginia Beach’s history, police said they do not yet have a motive.
DeWayne Craddock, who had worked in the public utilities department for 15 years, stormed into his office building at the Municipal Center armed with two .45-caliber handguns and began firing as people prepared to leave for the day, officials said at news conferences on Saturday.
All but one of the victims was a city employee. The other was a contractor there to fill a permit.
“The lives of 12 people were cut short by a senseless, incomprehensible act of violence,” City Manager Dave Hansen said. “I have worked with most of them for many years.”
Seven were men and five were women. Their employment with the city ranged from 11 months to 41 years.
As of Saturday afternoon, three shooting victims remained in Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital. All were stable, said Dr. Martin O’Grady, the facility’s head of trauma. Two of the victims had “significant” injuries but are expected to survive, he said. He described the other victim’s injuries as “devastating.”
One patient at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital was in critical condition.
“We are all shocked and saddened by the tragic events that occurred Friday at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center,” Sentara’s president and CEO Howard Kern
said in a statement. “We hear about shootings like this on the news, but for something like this to happen so close to home, where many of us live and work, it’s truly horrific and heartbreaking. It’s the day we prepared for but never wanted to see.”
Dr. Janelle Thomas, who was the attending emergency department physician at Sentara Virginia Beach as the situation unfolded, said good preparation and communication kept it from being worse. On-duty police quickly alerted the medical staff of the shooting, giving them about 30 minutes to prepare. Once the victims arrived it was controlled chaos as staff mobilized and divided responsibilities.
“For a horrible, tragic event, it went as smoothly as it could possibly have gone,” Thomas said.
The doctors, who combined have more than five decades of experience, said it’s important to focus on the task and not get emotionally involved during tragedies. Still, they were taken aback by Friday’s massacre.
“It’s senseless. It’s tragic,” Thomas said. “As much as Virginia Beach is a city, it has a small-town heart. This is taking a toll on our community.”
Deadly attack
Friday’s attack is believed to be the nation’s largest mass shooting since a dozen victims died in a California restaurant late last year.
It began about 4 p.m. at the city’s public works building, located within the municipal complex, a campus of about 30 brick, Colonial Revival-style buildings in the Princess Anne area. It’s also just about 100 to 150 yards from police headquarters. The historic district dates back nearly 200 years and encompasses 110 acres within Nimmo Parkway and West Neck, North Landing and Princess Anne roads. About 2,000 employees work at the complex.
Two detective supervisors rushed to Building 2 near City Hall, arriving within minutes of receiving the 911 call, Police Chief James Cervera said. Two K-9 handlers quickly joined them.
“They were out of the (police headquarters) building instantaneously,” the chief said.
The officers engaged in a long gun battle with the suspect before killing him. One officer was shot, but was saved by his bulletproof vest. Cervera said he had no idea how long the gunfire exchange lasted, but said he planned to release a timeline on Sunday.
The suspect’s handgun was equipped with a sound suppressor and an extended magazine, Cervera said.
After the shooting was over and the building was secured, officers escorted the surviving employees out, occasionally passing the victims’ bodies. One was found in a car outside, and the rest were discovered throughout the threestory building, police said.
“I want you to know that these officers worked with compassion, they worked with caring, and they worked with professionalism escorting their brothers and sisters who work for our city,” Cervera said.
Like most city buildings, the one where the shooting occurred is open to the public, he said. It typically houses about 400 employees.
“It’s an open government building,” the chief said. “Citizens have a right to access open government buildings.”
Before identifying the gunman, Cervera said it would be the only time that police will refer to him by name. Going forward, he will be known simply as the suspect, the chief said.
Investigators do not know if he had targeted any particular employees, Cervera said. He shot as he approached people in the building, said the chief, who emphasized that he would continue to focus on the victims.
Law enforcement recovered two additional weapons from the gunman’s apartment Friday night, an official from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said. Both guns found at the scene were obtained legally — one in 2016 and one in 2018 — the agent said.
Neighbors react
DeWayne Craddock lived alone in an upstairs unit off Virginia Beach Boulevard, in the secluded Adkins Reserve neighborhood that’s home to about a dozen multi-family buildings. Many who live there knew either little or nothing about the gunman.
Dani Stewart and Cassetty Howerin rented the condo below him. Over the past year, both had had fewer than 10 brief conversations with him. “He was just quiet,” said Stewart, 19.
In his apartment, he had at least three outward-facing cameras in the windows, which were visible from the street. He owned two nice cars, about which he was very particular, said Howerin, 23.
He was described as someone who always carried a book bag. Howerin said she learned from their run-ins that he worked out at a OneLife Fitness center. Sometimes, he came home right after work, but other times at 2 or 3 a.m., Stewart said.
They don’t remember him being a loud neighbor but said he had a heavy step. They often heard him dropping things, and that would be followed by a long rolling sound.
When they got home last night and saw the crime tape, they were stunned and called the news “unsettling.”
“He literally lives on top of us,” Stewart said. “It was terrifying.”
Other residents had heard his name for the first time on Sunday morning, when they learned that he was their neighbor.
Some spiraled with what-if scenarios and were shocked they had lived and slept so close to a man responsible for such a massacre.
“I said, ‘ Oh my god,’” Janet Saka, 48, recalled. “I’m shocked. I would never imagine something so close to home.”
Help for victims
Hansen said the city will be providing assistance to the surviving victims, the families of those killed and its employees. Building 2, where the carnage occurred, will be closed indefinitely, he said. Some city services will have to be relocated in the meantime.
“That building is going to take a little bit of time to reopen,” Hansen said.
Former Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms mourned the tragedy with family and neighbors at his home on Saturday.
“I recognize every face except one,” he said of the victims.
Sessoms said he is talking to businesses to help raise money to take care of those who were affected and their families.
“Everywhere there is a sense of sadness but a commitment to help,” Sessoms said. “We are going to get through this, and this city will be stronger and better.”
Staff writers Katherine Hafner and Alissa Skelton contributed to this report.
As of Saturday, three shooting victims remained in Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital. All were stable ... One patient at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital was in critical condition.