On Friday, a tragic incident took place in US where at least 12 people were killed and several others injured after a gunman opened fire at a municipal centre in Virginia Beach in the United States. The mass shooting was begin just after 4:00 pm (local time). The gunman come into one of the buildings at the Virginia Beach municipal centre and “immediately began to indiscriminately fire on all of the victims”.
The name of the gunman is not get revealed on Friday but he has been described as a “disgruntled public utilities
employee” at the Virginia Beach municipal centre.
The mass shooting was held in Building 2 of the municipal centre, as per to the local police. All the people who got injured in this incident have been taken to the Virginia Beach General Hospital for the treatment. From the list of injured one is also a police officer who was “saved by his vest,” police said.
The gunman was later identified by police as DeWayne Craddock, who was killed in an exchange of gunfire with police.
As per to the police chief James Cervera, the suspect died after trading fire with responding officers. “We have 11 deceased victims there at the scene, six more victims transported to area hospitals,” he said. Cervera also added by saying that the condition of those injured was not immediately available.
“Right now we have a lot of questions. The whys, they will come later. Right now we have more questions than we have answers,” he said.
Mayor Bobby Dyer also said regarding the incident, “This is the most devastating day in the history of Virginia Beach,” he further added, “The people involved are our friends, coworkers, neighbor, colleagues.”
Our hearts ache over the senseless violence that has been inflicted upon the Virginia Beach community today,” he told reporters. ”
The attack started shortly after 16:00 (20:00 GMT), at Virginia Beach Municipal Center, which is an area for the home to a number of city government buildings. At the time of attack, the area was then put into lockdown by police and employees were evacuated.
The Washington-based Gun Violence Archive monitoring group said that the Virginia Beach municipal centre shooting is considered to be the 150th mass shooting held this year in the United States, in which four or more people are shot or killed.
“We just heard people yelling and screaming at people to get down,” One of the eyewitnesses to the shooting, Megan Banton, an administrative assistant in the building, told local television news station WAVY.
She also said that she along with other co-workers hid in an office and in order to protect themselves they used a desk to keep the door shut. “It felt like forever,” she said.
Virginia Senator Tim Kaine took Twitter as a medium to express his grief as he tweeted, “I’m devastated to learn of the tragic shooting tonight in Virginia Beach. My heart is with everyone who lost a loved one, and I’m praying for a swift recovery for all those who have been injured.”
