Elise Mitchell, Sophomore
Last Friday, May 31st, DeWayne Craddock opened fire in a Virginia Beach Municipal building, killing 12 and injuring 4. The victims included Craddock’s former boss, fellow city employees, and one contractor.
According to CNN, Friday afternoon, just hours after turning in his letter of resignation, Craddock came to the municipal building and shot one person in their car before entering the building. The gunman fired indiscriminately at co-workers spread out over three floors of the building. He used two .45-caliber pistols, one with a suppressor on it, and several extended magazines to kill 12 people; Richard H. Nettleton (Craddock’s former boss), Herbert “Bert” Snelling (the contractor), Laquita C. Brown, Mary Louise Gayle, Alexander Mikhail Gusev, Tara Welch Gallagher, Christopher Kelly Rapp, Joshua O. Hardy, Ryan Keith Cox, Michelle "Missy" Langer, Robert "Bobby" Williams, many of whom are a part of loving families and communities. Several others were severely wounded and are being treated in nearby hospitals. Three people are in critical condition and one is in stable condition. When authorities arrived on the scene, they quickly surrounded him in the building, forcing him to commence in a shootout with the police. He was shot by an officer, who approached the gunman and tried to perform life-saving first aid on the shooter. Craddock died of his wounds on the way to the hospital.
At the scene of the crime, police officers are left to wonder what drove Craddock to commit such a heinous crime. Friday morning, Craddock gave his letter of resignation to Virginia Beach City Manager Dave Hansen, saying that he was quitting for personal reasons. Dave Hansen reported that Craddock’s "performance was satisfactory" and he was "within good standing in his department," making sure to mention that Craddock had "no issues of discipline ongoing." At the beginning of the day, DeWayne Craddock was a good and harmless man who was liked by all of his co-workers. Joseph Scott, who had worked with Craddock said that he was "what I thought was a good person, "Craddock was even the man that gave the administrative staff chocolates around Christmas time. The complete 180-degree turn that Craddock did that day made the case even more confusing for the local law enforcement and FBI. Police are left to wonder how long Craddock had been planning this attack, his motive, or even a target. Craddock had been working for the city for 15 years without incident and he had resigned his position on his own terms, eliminating all obvious motive for the attack. Despite the fact that Craddock shot and killed his boss, it seems he was firing indiscriminately, implying that he had no specific target for the attack either.
Now, the families of all that were involved, including the Craddocks, are left mourning. The Craddock family made a public statement, apologizing to all of the victims and their families, offering their condolences, as well as stating that they were not aware of any problems that Craddock was having at his job. The Craddock family left a handwritten note on one victim's front door, ending with "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who (lost) their lives, and those recovering in the hospital."
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