VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The man who shot and killed 12 people at a municipal building Friday used two .45-caliber handguns that were purchased legally to carry out the rampage, authorities said at a news conference Saturday afternoon.
DeWayne Craddock, 40, of Virginia Beach bought the guns in 2016 and 2018, an ATF official said. Authorities recovered two other guns from Craddock’s home, one of which was also purchased legally, he said. He said authorities were still looking into the purchase of the fourth weapon.
Virginia Beach Police Chief James Cervera pointedly denied at the news conference that Craddock, who was an employee of the Department of Utilities, had been fired before he gunned down colleagues. Some media outlets reported Craddock’s employment had been terminated citing unnamed sources.
“Make no mistake, we are a heartbroken city,” said Julie Hill, communications director for the city. “We lost 12 people who did nothing more than go to work.”
Craddock, an engineer, was a 15-year employee of the city’s Department of Public Utilities, and all but one of his victims were city employees, authorities said earlier on Saturday. The last victim was a contractor seeking a permit.
Virginia Beach City Manager Dave Hansen solemnly read the names of each at a news conference Saturday morning. They were listed as Virginia Beach residents Tara Welch Gallagher, Mary Louise Gayle, Alexander Mikhail Gusev, Katherine A. Nixon, Ryan Keith Cox, Joshua A. Hardy, Michelle “Missy” Langer and Herbert “Bert” Snelling; Chesapeake, Virginia, residents Laquita C. Brown and Robert “Bobby” Williams; Norfolk, Virginia, resident Richard H. Nettleton; and Powhatan, Virginia, resident Christopher Kelly Rapp.
“They leave a void we will never be able to fill,” Hansen said.
Cervera then named Craddock, vowing it would be the only time he would speak his name publicly. Four wounded victims remained hospitalized in various conditions as of Saturday afternoon, according to the Sentara Healthcare.
Cervera declined to discuss a motive for the spree at the news conference but said Craddock used a city-issued badge to gain entry to a public works building in the sprawling municipal complex.
He shot people on all three floors of the building and shot one person in a car outside, police said.
Cervera said city officers, along with the FBI and Virginia State Police, worked through the night to identify the victims of the shooting.
“This is a horrific crime scene,” Cervera said. “It took a physical, emotional and psychological toll on everyone who spent the night in that building.”
Cervera said investigators found weapons at the scene of the shooting, as well as at Craddock’s home, in addition to the .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun outfitted with a sound suppressor and extended magazines that is believed to have carried out the shooting. Cervera declined to say what the additional weapons are.
The gunfire erupted shortly after 4 p.m. in Building 2 of the complex, Cervera said.
Four officers arrived on the scene within minutes of the shooting, since the police department is located less than 150 yards from the center, Cervera said. Two detective supervisors and K-9 handlers quickly found Craddock. The gunman opened fire on the officers and the officers shot back. Craddock did not say anything to the officers.
“This was a long-term, large gunfight,” Cervera said.
Cervera said one of the officers was hit by a bullet, but a bulletproof vest saved his life and he’s “doing well.” Craddock was eventually shot and the officers rendered aid, Cevera said. Craddock later died.
The shooting sent employees fleeing the building, while others froze in place.
Bob Montague, the director of the public utilities department, had just wrapped up a meeting and was settling into his second-floor office to take care of some work when a burst of alarming, yet faint sounds began penetrating the air.
“I heard rapid pop-pops, but they weren’t very loud, and then suddenly a kind of hole exploded in my wall, and I had bits of dry wall and dust hit me,” Montague recalled. “That’s when I made the connection of what was happening. There was a series of gun shots, it was all very quick, a whirlwind coming through. You’re frightened and your adrenaline is up and you’re thinking about what you’re going to do if you encounter someone. I had no idea what was going on other than realizing these were gun shots.”
Montague called 911, texted co-workers and remained in his office until the shooting was over. It was only then he discovered the magnitude of the tragedy: six employees he oversaw had been killed.
“There is no answer to explain an event like this,” Montague said.
Shelia Cook, 49, who works for the city, watched the response to the shooting unfold Friday.
“We could kind of hear what was going on. … We heard like popping – poom, poom, like that – and then we saw the ambulance,” Cook said. “And we saw the police. We saw all these things going on. So then we were like, oh, it must be really big.”
Afterward, Cervera said officers methodically checked every room, closet and desk in the building before determining it was free of danger. The building is workplace to roughly 400 employees for Public Works, Public Utilities and other city agencies.
On Saturday, Craddock’s family members had posted a note on their door in Newport News, Virginia, that read they were sending “heart felt condolences” to the victims.
Amanda Archer, 22, and Cassetty Howerin, 23, said they were shocked to learn that the man who lived in their cul-de-sac had allegedly committed the mass shooting.
They described Craddock as a quiet, reserved man who rarely said much to them when they passed outside the gray duplex they shared with him.
“He was just to himself,” said Archer. “He just seemed like the kind of person who was just to himself and didn’t mess with the outside world much.”
Craddock seemed to play an active role in the Department of Public Utilities.
A 2015 post by the city of Virginia Beach said Craddock was a project manager for the installation of a water main along a city road. In 2018, he was listed as a contact person for a utilities project on the city website.
He gave members of a local chamber of commerce a tour of a water pumping station project in 2015, according to an article from the time in the Lake Gaston Gazette.
Court records show only a single traffic offense on his record in Virginia Beach. Old Dominion University officials said he was a 2002 graduate with a degree in civil engineering and he had served in the National Guard.
Family and friends began to mourn the victims Saturday in private moments and public vigils. One had not yet finished his first year on the job, while another had spent more than four decades there. They were engineers, account clerks and administrative assistants.
Christopher Rapp, a public works engineer, had a passion for Scottish music, friends said.
The engineer from Powhatan had been working for the Virginia Beach public works department for the past 11 months, officials said. In his spare time, he enjoyed putting on a kilt and playing his pipes, friends said. Tidewater Pipes & Drums, a bagpipe band in southeastern Virginia, said on social media that Rapp was a member of their group.
“We are heartbroken to share the news that our bandmate, Chris Rapp, was one of the victims of Friday’s senseless shooting,” the group said Saturday morning in a Facebook post.
At the Virginia Beach home of Herbert “Bert” Snelling, neighbors keep arriving, some with flowers. “Bert was a great guy. He’d do anything for you,” said one man who lives on the street but didn’t want to give his name.
Hansen said the city has received an outpouring of support and would be providing assistance to employees. Building 2 will remain closed and the city services housed there will be transferred elsewhere.
Gov. Ralph Northam said Saturday morning that he ordered flags to fly at half-staff on government buildings. President Trump tweeted he had been in contact with local and state officials.
“The Federal Government is there, and will be, for whatever they may need. God bless the families and all!” Trump tweeted.
Friday’s mass shooting was the deadliest rampage in the United States this year. It was the worst since a gunman opened fire at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, killing 12 before fatally shooting himself.
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