12 killed in US after gunman fires indiscriminately at Virginia complex

The gunman was killed in an exchange of fire with police officers. But, he had not been identified by authorities till the time of reporting and his motives remained unknown.

A municipal employee opened fired at his workplace in a civic body building in Virginia Beach on Friday, killing at least 12 people and leaving four injured.

Police evacuate people from a building in this still image taken from video following a shooting incident at the municipal center in Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S. May 31, 2019. (Photo: REUTERS)

The gunman was eventually killed in an exchange of fire with police officers. Authorities in the state of Virginia later identified him as DeWayne Craddock, 40, who had worked for the city for 15 years.

He was a civil engineer who had been project manager for several utility works and was on the rolls at the time of the shooting.

Craddock had entered the building using his employee badge. Authorities have declined to discuss his motives.

The victims were employees of the departments of public works and public utilities, except one, a contractor.

Laquita Brown, Mary Louise Gayle and Alexander Mikhail Gusev were right of way agents; Christopher Kelly Rapp, Tara Welch Gallagher, Katherine Nixon, Richard Nettleton and Joshua Hardy were engineers; Ryan Keith Cox was an account clerk; Michelle Langer was an administrative assistant; Robert Williams was a special projects coordinator; and Herbert Snelling was a contractor.

“This is the most devastating day in the history of Virginia Beach,” mayor Bobby Dyer told reporters.

This was the 150th instance of mass shooting in the US in 2019, according to Gun Violence Archive. A total of 5,778 people have died in gun violence so far - 1,332 of them were below 16 years of age.

On Friday, the attacker opened fire at around 4pm local time, just as the employees at the public works and utilities departments, housed in a building inside a sprawling municipal centre complex, were winding up for the day.

Authorities said close to 400 people work in that building, which is also visited by residents in the area for bill payments and for obtaining building permits.

Craddock went about his shooting spree from floor to floor. Police chief James Cervera told reporters that victims were found on all three floors of the building, while one of them was found outside.

He said the suspect used a .45-calibre semi-automatic handgun with a sound suppressor and an enhanced magazine that allowed him to fire many rounds, engaging four police officers in a “long-term gun battle”. Police found multiple weapons at the scene of the crime and at the suspect’s home.