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11 Killed in Shooting at Virginia Beach Municipal Center, Officials Say Virginia Beach Shooting: 11 Killed in Rampage at Municipal Center
(about 1 hour later)
A Virginia Beach city worker walked into a municipal building on Friday afternoon and fired on co-workers indiscriminately, killing at least 11 people and injuring six others, the authorities said. A municipal building in Virginia Beach, Va., was turned into a scene of carnage on Friday afternoon after a longtime public utilities employee began firing indiscriminately at his co-workers, killing at least 11 people and injuring six others before dying after a shootout with the police.
Chief James A. Cervera of the Virginia Beach Police Department said the gunman, who was a current, longtime public utilities employee, was dead after officers opened fire. It had been nearing closing time in an office offering some of the most mundane functions of city government, such as paying water bills and applying for building permits, when the employee, whose name and possible motive were not immediately disclosed, began stalking through several floors firing at his colleagues, the authorities said.
The chief said the gunman fired on his victims immediately in what amounted to a “huge scene.” He declined to discuss a possible motive for the shooting. The loud bursts of gunfire sent workers scrambling and barricading their office doors. “My boss basically was like, ‘This is not a drill, get down, call 911,’” Megan Banton, an administrative assistant who was in the building where the shooting happened, told reporters at the scene.
About 20 people in her second-floor office were hugging and holding one another, she said, as a bloody scene unfolded in the building. They heard gunshots, shouts from police officers to “get down” and frantic conversations in a stairwell outside their office, she said. She stayed on the phone with 911 to make sure the police were coming.
“They couldn’t come fast enough,” she said.
The identities of the victims were not released. One of those injured was a police officer, who was saved by his bulletproof vest, said Chief James A. Cervera of the Virginia Beach Police Department.
He called the shooting a “devastating incident” that “none of us want to be here talking about,” adding that it was “going to change the lives of a number of families in our city.”
The shooting took place shortly after 4 p.m. within the sprawling Virginia Beach Municipal Center, a campus of city offices and agencies, including the Police Department. The attack unfolded on multiple floors in Building No. 2, which includes offices for planning and public works, among others, and is adjacent to City Hall.
“This is the most devastating day in the history of Virginia Beach,” Mayor Robert M. Dyer said at an evening news conference.“This is the most devastating day in the history of Virginia Beach,” Mayor Robert M. Dyer said at an evening news conference.
“The people involved are our friends, co-workers, neighbors, colleagues,” he continued before his voice trailed off and he bowed his head.“The people involved are our friends, co-workers, neighbors, colleagues,” he continued before his voice trailed off and he bowed his head.
The identities of the gunman and the victims were not released.
One of those injured was a police officer, who was saved by his bulletproof vest, Chief Cervera said.
He called the shooting a “devastating incident that happened that none of us want to be here talking about,” adding that it was “going to change the lives of a number of families in our city.”
The shooting began shortly after 4 p.m. at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center, a campus of city offices and agencies, including the Police Department. The shooting unfolded on multiple floors in Building No. 2, which includes offices for planning and public works, among others, and is adjacent to City Hall.
Dale T. Gauding, a spokesman for Sentara Healthcare, said five patients were taken to Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital.Dale T. Gauding, a spokesman for Sentara Healthcare, said five patients were taken to Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital.
One patient at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital was being picked up by helicopter and transferred to a trauma center at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, he said. Details on their conditions were not immediately available. Another patient at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital was being picked up by helicopter and transferred to a trauma center at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, he said. Details on their conditions were not immediately available.
“This day will not define Virginia Beach,” a City Council member, Aaron Rouse, said at the news conference. “We will show the strength of our city.”“This day will not define Virginia Beach,” a City Council member, Aaron Rouse, said at the news conference. “We will show the strength of our city.”
Another Council member, Barbara Henley, told The Virginian-Pilot that she was pulling up to City Hall, when she heard police sirens and saw police cars. Another Council member, Barbara Henley, told The Virginian-Pilot that she had been pulling up to City Hall when she heard police sirens and saw police cars. After initially thinking it was an accident, she heard a male voice shout “Get down!” and saw people scattering.
“I thought it was an accident,” Ms. Henley said.
She said she learned there had been a shooting and heard a male voice shout, “Get down!”
People scattered.
“I was scared to death,” she said.“I was scared to death,” she said.
“This is a tragic day for Virginia Beach and our entire Commonwealth,’’ Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia said on Twitter. “My heart breaks for the victims of this devastating shooting, their families, and all who loved them. I am on my way to Virginia Beach now and will be there within the hour.” All over Virginia Beach, residents were trying to process such horror on what had been the close to a normal week. “It is an awful, awful day for our wonderful city,” said Will Sessoms, the former mayor of Virginia Beach, who retired last year. “We will get through it. We will get through it.”
The shooting in Virginia Beach, whose population is about 450,000, comes on the heels of two mass shootings at educational institutions in recent weeks. Eerily, the police had scheduled a community workshop for Saturday morning on how to prepare for a mass shooting. The “active threat citizens defense” event had 36 people scheduled to attend, according to the department’s Facebook page.
On April 30 — the last day of classes — two students were killed at the University of North Carolina Charlotte and four others injured after a gunman opened fire in a classroom. “Having to face an armed individual with bad intentions is every person’s worst nightmare. You can’t stop crazy, you can only respond to it,” said a brochure for the workshop published by the local ABC News affiliate.
On May 7, at the STEM School Highlands Ranch in Colorado, one student was killed and eight others wounded. “You don’t prepare for something like this,” said Mayor Dyer. “It’s a nightmare no one wants to actually live through.”
In both cases, a student sacrificed his life to prevent more bloodshed by barreling toward the gunman. Nothing like this has happened in Virginia Beach in the 40 years that Guy King Tower, a City Council member and retired lawyer, has been living there. “Nothing remotely like it, certainly in my memory,” said Mr. Tower, who has been living in the city since the 1970s but just joined the council a month ago.
Workplaces have also regularly been the scene of tragedy. In February, an angry worker stormed through a suburban Chicago factory and shot several co-workers, leaving five dead and six other people wounded. He was at the municipal center early this afternoon, but left before the shooting. He said that Building 2 — where the shooting occurred — is connected by a tunnel to Building 1, which is the main administrative office.
He said that in addition to a dominant Navy presence, the area also has Marine, Army and Air Force bases. “This is a military town, and people deal with the wages of war on a pretty regular basis,” Mr. Tower said. “There are a lot of people here who have had loved ones in harm’s way. But certainly a mass murder had never happened that I can recall.”
The Kempsville Mennonite Church was hosting a graduation celebration for its high school seniors on Friday evening as the chaos unfolded just a few minutes up the road.
William Yoder, 28, was one of the few people there to have heard about the shooting, because members of their community do not have televisions and many do not have smartphones.
“It’s semirural in this area,” Mr. Yoder said. “The civic center is pretty close to farmland, a few neighborhoods. Most times it is fairly quiet.”
“It is pretty shocking,” he added.