Police released the names the 12 people killed in a Friday shooting at a government building in Virginia Beach, Va.
Officials read the names of the victims at a press conference on Saturday morning. Eleven of the slain were government workers while one was a contractor, according to the Washington Post.
The names were given as Laquita C. Brown of Chesapeake, Tara Welch Gallagher of Virginia Beach, Mary Louise Gayle of Virginia Beach, Alexander Mikhail Gusev of Virginia Beach, Katherine A. Nixon of Virginia Beach, Richard H. Nettleton of Norfolk, Christopher Kelly Rapp of Powhatan, Ryan Keith Cox of Virginia Beach, Joshua A. Hardy of Virginia Beach, Michelle “Missy” Langer of Virginia Beach, Robert “Bobby” Williams of Chesapeake, and Herbert “Bert” Snelling of Virginia Beach.
Police said the shooter was a 40-year-old recently fired from his job as a government worker who returned to the building he worked at for revenge, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The shooter opened fire inside three levels of the building with a .45-caliber handgun, shooting indiscriminately. Police found wounded people on each level, and one police officer was wounded in the spree. At least four people were taken to nearby hospitals for surgery. Police killed the shooter in a shootout at the scene.
“Today is Virginia Beach’s darkest hour,” Mayor Bobby Dyer told reporters. A “senseless crime happened and imposed tremendous grief upon the people of Virginia Beach, the commonwealth, and this country.”
President Trump called Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Friday night and Dyer and Virginia Beach Vice Mayor James Wood on Saturday morning to give condolences and offer aid in the shooting’s aftermath.
“Spoke to Virginia Governor @RalphNortham last night, and the Mayor and Vice Mayor of Virginia Beach this morning, to offer condolences to that great community. The Federal Government is there, and will be, for whatever they may need. God bless the families and all!” Trump tweeted Saturday.
Spoke to Virginia Governor @RalphNortham last night, and the Mayor and Vice Mayor of Virginia Beach this morning, to offer condolences to that great community. The Federal Government is there, and will be, for whatever they may need. God bless the families and all!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 1, 2019
