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Who Was DeWayne Craddock, the Gunman in the Virginia Beach Shooting? Who Is DeWayne Craddock, the Suspect in the Virginia Beach Shooting?
(about 2 hours later)
Virginia Beach officials on Saturday identified DeWayne Craddock, a longtime Virginia Beach city worker, as the gunman who stormed the beach community’s municipal complex on Friday afternoon and opened fire, killing at least 12 and injuring several others. Before DeWayne Antonio Craddock stormed a Virginia Beach municipal complex on Friday, where law enforcement officials said he slaughtered a dozen people and injured several others, he had made his living in public service.
[Officials have identified the victims.] Mr. Craddock, 40, who was killed during a protracted shootout with the police, had been an engineer with the Department of Public Utilities, the city’s water and sanitary sewer services branch.
Mr. Craddock, 40, died in a shootout with the police. Here is what we know about him: Nothing had seemed amiss when he entered the agency’s building on Friday because he had worked with the department for about 15 years, officials said. No one had suspected that he was armed. Many of the people he would kill or wound that afternoon were his colleagues.
• He worked as an engineer in the Department of Public Utilities, the city’s water and sanitary sewer services branch, for about 15 years. A recent city news release listed him as a contact person on a roads project. At a Saturday morning press briefing, Dave Hansen, the Virginia Beach city manager, said that the suspect “was still employed” by the city at the time of the attack.
• There was no immediate indication that the suspect targeted anyone in particular, officials said. “He had a security pass like all employees had and he was authorized to enter the building,” Mr. Hansen said.
• He had a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Old Dominion University. Before his job with the city, he worked for private firms specializing in site planning and infrastructure, and for the Army Training and Support Center, employment listings showed. He also served in the Army National Guard, according to news reports. City officials declined to discuss a possible motive for the attack, but they did say that there was no immediate indication that the suspect had targeted anyone in particular.
• The suspect had no obvious criminal history, according to court records, although he did have several traffic violations over the years. Officials on Saturday said that the suspect was armed with two .45-caliber guns, at least one of which had a sound suppressor attached to it. He used extended magazines, which hold more ammunition than standard models, and reloaded several times in what the Virginia Beach police chief called “a long-term gun battle.” At least one officer was wounded in the exchange, and his bulletproof vest, the chief said, had probably saved his life.
• Virginia Beach Police Chief James Cervera said the gunman was armed with at least one weapon, a .45-caliber handgun that had a sound suppressor attached to it. He used extended magazines, which hold more ammunition than standard models. Officials said that additional weapons had been found at the scene and at home. Officials said that additional weapons had been found at the scene and at the suspect’s home.
• Chief Cervera, speaking at a news conference on Saturday morning, said he did not intend to say the name of the suspect, who was killed on Friday, again in public. The suspect had no obvious criminal history, court records show, although he did have several traffic violations over the years.
He earned a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from Old Dominion University in Virginia.
In 1996, he enlisted in the Virginia National Guard, where he was assigned to the First Battalion, 111th Field Artillery Regiment, in Norfolk as a cannon crew member, according to a state National Guard spokesman. He was discharged in 2002 at the rank of specialist.
Before his job with the city, the suspect worked for private firms specializing in site planning and infrastructure. One of his hiring notices said that he “has engineering experience as a project engineer for site design, storm water management and public and private utility system design.” Employment listings also showed that he had worked for the Army Training and Support Center.
Several news releases issued by the department this year about road closings because of utility work listed a DeWayne Craddock as the contact person for further information. According to records, he had held a professional engineer license from the state since 2008.
James Cervera, the Virginia Beach police chief, also said on Saturday he did not intend to say the name of the suspect again in public.