Expecting a press conference to begin. So this is very fluid, what is happening right now. Well, of course, bring that to you live when it happens. But heres what we know right now. Sources say that this suspect was a disgruntled employee. He was killed in a shootout with police. Now, they say that a. 45 caliber pistol was found near the shooter along with a suppresser and several empty higher capacity magazines. This all happened late yesterday afternoon. Police say the suspect started shooting on all three floors of that building and Officials Say they found victims on all three floors of this building behind me. Lets go now to the courthouse where this News Conference will happen. Brian todd is there. Hes been following this story all night. What are you learning . Reporter right, victor. Were anticipating this News Conference any moment now. And were eagerly anticipating it, because we hope they will give new afghanistinformation a the shooting unfolded. Some of the details about what happened inside the building in this complex and also about possible motive. What might have prompted this man to come into the complex and start shooting. What we can tell you is, from all indications weve gotten so far from police, fbi, and other officials, the gunman came into that building prepared to inflict carnage and prepared, seemingly, to do battle with police. My deepest condolences and prayers go to the families of those who left home this morning and will not return tonight. Reporter tragedy in Virginia Beach friday evening. A mass shooting at the virginia Municipal Building, the deadliest mass shooting in america since november of 2018, when 12 people were killed at the border line Country Music bar in california. Today is Virginia Beachs darkest hour. I have a number of officers right now who are processing through what best could be described as a war zone. Reporter a virginia government source tells cnn it was a disgruntled employee, 40yearold dewayne craddock, who worked as a certified professional engineer for the city of Virginia Beach. They say he walked into the Municipal Building with a. 45 caliber handgun and opened fire, leaving behind a trail of carnage. The suspect was reloading extended magazines in that handgun, firing at victims throughout the building and at our officers. Reporter police say they want people to remember the victims and not their killer. We will release his name once. Were going to mention his name once. And then he will be forever referred to as the suspect. Reporter craddock was killed during a long gun battle with police. We have numerous victims and we have numerous families. Lets make sure that we keep their dignity and their respect as the number one piece of news that were going to give out. And some new information that we can tell you this morning. Cnn was able to reach the shooters parents last night. Spoke to them briefly on the phone. My colleague, David Shoretel was able to reach his parents. At that moment, they did not know that their son was involved in this shooting. And they told david that they did not have any indication that he had problems with anyone at his work. So hopefully well learn some of those details in the coming moments, victor, while, you know, police come in here and brief us and maybe give us more information about how the shooting unfolded, some details about maybe the gun battle with police. And of course, the key details about a possible motive. Victor . All right, brian. Quick question, and you may not know the answer to this, so well accept that, but do we know if the governor will be back this morning as part of this News Conference or if were hearing primarily from the mayor, the police chief and local officials . Reporter we are not quite sure about the governor. We believe the governor is going to have an event later on this morning, a separate event, but we do not know that. We do expect the police chief, jim cervera to come in and give some new details, possibly mayor bobby dyer. Those have been the two gentlemen who have given the most information so far and we havent had a lot of details since last nights conference, so were counting on semifor some key information. And were looking for any real detail about possible conflict this man had with people at his work that might have prompted him to come in and start shooting people. And whether there might have been a specific target in mind. Those are some things that maybe the police chief and the mayor, possibly the fbi might be able to answer. Yeah. And what we learned from the scanner traffic initially after the shooting and those first calls came in is that police went quickly into this building. Obviously, since its a public building, a city building, they knew the layout well and knew what they had to do. Whats quite, i would say, iron wick, is that there was, there was a specific type of training scheduled for today. Tell us about that. Reporter thats right. There was an active shooter seminar scheduled for today that has been canceled. But, you know, whats interesting, also, is that the police chief and others have said that, you know, their Police Officers were already very well trained for a possible event like this. And it was evident from the details that we know. They got into the building very quickly. Were told that four Law Enforcement officers were the initial ones to come into the building and they quickly determine idea the shooter was, based on the sounds of the gunfire and were able to engage him. Their actions might very well have saved many lives. Victor . All right. Brian todd, well get back to you. This News Conference happening in a few moments from now. Of course, well bring that to you live. But also, we want to show you this. A photo journalist from our affiliate wtkr was here at the Municipal Building yesterday covering a different story when the shooting started. Heres what he says happened. It was pretty scary, when i right after 4 00, because we were doing a live shot at building 1, which is maybe a hundred yards from building 2 where everything happened, and i see a bunch of Police Officers in Tactical Gear running around in front of building 2 and around the back and start surrounding it, so i figured, let me go see whats going on. And i got right in front of building 2 and all of a sudden i just hear a barrage of gunfire. And it could have been an exchange, im not sure, because it sounded like it was different gun s firing. And i just ducked behind a car almost instinct chually, just g down and waited for about ten seconds to hear a break in the gunfire and hightailed it back to the van. Were also hearing from some of the people who work in that building. Cnn affiliate wtkr was on the air live. They were talking with a man whose wife was trapped in the building and heres what happened after that. Im just praying the whole time. So there she go right there, hugging that guy. Thats your wife . Yeah. Yeah. This gentlemen who was on the phone with his wife while the shooting was going on, he is getting ready to be reunited with her after she has been debriefed by the Police Department and the fbi. And you can see this wonderful reunion. You know, this relief this man is feeling. We just heard people yelling and screaming to get down and i was on the phone with 911, so i was trying to concentrate on getting talking to them. We put the desk against the door, because we didnt know if they were coming in or anything. Heard a sound on the stairs, we go to the corridor and there was a lady on the stair unconscious, blood on her stairway, we didnt know what happened. When they went upstairs, she came back down saying, get out of the building, theres some guy with a gun. And still the question of why. Why did this man start shooting in this public building, killing 12, injuring four more. Were expecting this News Conference to start in just a couple of minutes here. Weve been told that we could be just a minute or two away. And one of the interesting elements here was that not every victim was shot inside that building. Were told that the shooter actually shot one person in a car in the parking lot right here behind me. And were expecting more details about this. You can see the building, Municipal Building 2 over my shoulder here. Three floors, and victims on all three floors there. And this shooter was killed in this long gun battle as described by the police chief. I think we have cnn Law Enforcement analyst Cedric Alexander with us. Cedric, can you hear me . I got you. Cedric, good morning to you. Good morning. First, give us an idea of what this investigation looks like, what we cannot see. I can see plenty of Virginia Police Virginia Beach Police Department cars here, so we know theres something happening. Give us an idea of the investigation thats happening behind the scenes. Well, the investigation youre seeing taking place now is a continuation of what occurred yesterday after that shooting. What youre going to have today and particularly now that you have more daylight, youre going to continue to see investigators go in and out. Theres going to be a continuation of interviews of any witnesses that may be in and around this event when it occurred. But whats going on behind the scenes, with the help of both state and federal Law Enforcement, im quite sure, is finding out more about who this subject shooter was. And more importantly, to try to begin to determine what was the motive behind this act of such violence that created so much carnage . So theres a lot of things, victor, that are taking place at this very moment that we speak that were speaking, that certainly is seen, but very importantly, is finding out who was that subject, what was the motive, what may have led up to this shooting, because more information that we have, the more we are able to make some determinations about what we can do going into future, maybe to help stop these types of events. Which seems to be so much occurring so frequently, too often in this country. You know, one of our colleagues reached out to this shooters parents and they said at that point, they have not heard from police. Is this in that effort to find the motive, to understand why he would have done this. Is that expected at that hour, that they would not have heard from police . Well, you know, it could be a variety of reasons why they may not have heard from Police Officials at this point, victor. Concerning the fact that this event is still within the last 24 hours, so a lot of things have occurred in that short period of time. And having an opportunity to talk with and meet with his family is certainly on the list of things to do to determine about who he is, but there are a lot of things that immediately at this very moment that needs to be addressed, particularly at this crime scene. And youve got a lot of resources from both local, state, and federal authorities that are there supporting each other, but it just depends on where that investigation goes. We dont know exactly what all police may be investigating and having to concern themselves with that at this particular moment, but being able to get this family and his friends are certainly on that list and its very important. And they understand the importance of it, but theres a lot going on at one time. So i wouldnt too much overly concern myself with that other than the fact that the immediacy of being able to care for those that were injured is very important as well. Absolutely. Yeah if you see me looking down here, im looking at a monitor. I have a live shot here of the courtroom. Were expecting this News Conference to happen. We were told it was going to happen within just a couple of minutes. It looks like theyre a bit behind schedule, so lets do this. With our thanks to Cedric Alexander for his expertise, lets take a break and hopefully theyll be starting when we come back from that break. More live coverage of the breaking news here after 12 people killed, 4 people still in hospitals. The mass shooting in Virginia Beach. Well be back. Woman 1 i had no symptoms of hepatitis c. Man 1 mine. Man 1 . Caused liver damage. Vo epclusa treats all main types of chronic hep c. Vo whatever your type, ask your doctor if epclusa is your kind of cure. Woman 2 i had the common type. 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To help keep the soil healthy. And the coffee delicious. For future generations. All for a smoother tasting cup. Green mountain Coffee Roasters. Im Victor Blackwell live in Virginia Beach. Were awaiting a News Conference here from the Virginia Beach police chief, also the mayor of Virginia Beach. We have some officials walking into the room, expecting new information after that mass shooting here friday afternoon. At least 12 people were killed after a gunman walked into building 2 of the Virginia Beach Municipal Center and started shooting. Were told that he fired shots off on each of the three floors and there were victims found on each of those floors. Our brian todd has been following this all overnight and hes there inside the courthouse where this News Conference will happen. Brian, the chief here made a point in the News Conference initially of saying that this shooters name will be mentioned only one time, vocationing on the victims, those who are deceased and those who are still in hospitals. Thats right. The police chief and other officials here said, victor, that they want to focus on the victims and their separation rather than the shooter and drawing attention to him. Youre seeing that more and more often these days, in instances of mass shootings, where the shooters name is maybe mentioned a couple of times, but officials often now try to play that down, because they, of course, dont want to give attention to the shooter, which, you know, on occasion he or she might be seeking. So, yes, the police chief was very clear about that. He was emotional when he spoke about that. But it remains, victor, that we still need information about this man. We need information about his possible motive. We need information about whether he was previously known to police in any way. We are getting indications that he may not have been. The only thing we know about possible path infractions was a minor Traffic Violation at this point. Thats what we know about him at this point. But to keep his name completely out of the mix as far as media coverage, thats a debate thats ongoing among members of the media and Law Enforcement authorities throughout the country, but the fact remains this morning that at least in this instance, we do need more information about this man, about possible conflicts that he might have had at his work that might have spurred him to do what he did. We did we were able to reach his parents last night. Our colleague, David Shoretel, reach his parents briefly on the phone. And at the time david reached them, they said they did not know that their son was involved in the shooting. And they told them they did not know of any possible conflicts he might have had at his work. How deep their knowledge is of his situation, we may be able to piece that together. But the key unanswered question right now is specific motive. Another key unanswered question is was there a specific target. Victor. We also learned about the weapons, the ammunition he had, and with 12 dead and four injured, i mean, no question, this is a horrible tragedy, but from what youve learned, this could have been a lot worse considering the capacity of the magazines that he had or were at least found near him. Exactly. He came in here with a 45caliber handgun with extended magazine and a silencer equipped with it and a rifle. This man, from every indication were getting came in here prepared to engage with police, possibly, and certainly prepared to inflict mass carnage. And he obviously and horrifically did that. But the Police Officers response is being widely praised this morning and last night. They got in here quickly. The Police Station, the main Police Station here in Virginia Beach is just a couple of doors down from where the shooting occurred, so they were able to get here quickly and four officers went into the building. Now, we have youre outside the building, weve been outside this building. Its not a really small its not a small building. Its got three floors, its fairly extensive. Zp and its a fairly large building. But they were able to find out quickly where the gunfire was coming from and get to him. The police chief did say that this was a long and fairly drawn out gun battle. And from scanner traffic, from recordings that weve listened to, we did find out from at least one of the officers that was radioing in that he tried to barricade himself at one point, so we do know some of that detail. Clearly, a very, very dramatic and horrific shootout and the police did sustain an injury. One of their officers was wounded. Were told that what saved his life was the fact that he was wearing a bulletproof vest. So again, maybe some more details coming out about the gunmans weapons, his methods, and his motive. All right, brian todd for us there in the courthouse, where this News Conference was scheduled to have started about 20 minutes ago. Stand by for us. Were going to sneak in a break here. Were going to get you the latest hopefully on those four victims that are still in hospitals. The latest into the investigation and on this shooter and why he walk into that building and started shooting coworkers and visitors. Stay with us. Cnns special live coverage continues in a moment. Letters earned in backwoods, high hills, and steep dunes. But somewhere along the way, suvs became pretenders, not pioneers. But you never forgot the difference, and neither did we. There are many suvs, but theres only one legend. Hurry in now to the jeep celebration event and get 500 additional bonus cash on select models. 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Eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. Whats around the corner could be surprising. Ask your doctor about eliquis. I can choose from all their Different Hotel brands. Like a doubletree for my cousins. A homewood suites for my uncle. A hampton for my sister and her kids. And the waldorf astoria Beverly Hills for me. Can i get a. . Thank you. Book at hilton. Com and get the hilton price match guarantee. Bseaonly abreva cany to help sget rid of it in. As little as 2 1 2 days when used at the first sign. Abreva starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells. Abreva acts on it. So you can too. Im the city manager of Virginia Beach and i appreciate being joined by all of the media that have traveled far and wide to support us. I also want to acknowledge all of my elected officials that are here with me upfront and as we share information with you today. 16 hours ago, the lives of 12 people were cut short by a senseless, incomprehensible act of violence. Overnight, our chaplains, our human services, and our family assistant staff and teams completed the most difficult task anyone will ever have to do. And that is notifying the next of kin. So today, we all grieve. This morning, i have the responsibility to inform friends, coworkers, and the public of those who lost their lives yesterday all but one of the 12 victims were employees of the city of Virginia Beach. I have worked with most of them for many years. We want you to know who they were, so in the days and weeks to come, you will learn what they meant to all of us, to their families, to their friends, and to their coworkers. They leave a void that we will never be able to fill. Laquita c. Brown who works in public works for over four and a half years and is a right of way agent. And she is a resident of chesapeake, virginia. Terrell welch gallagher, who works in public works for over six years and serves as an engineer and is a resident of Virginia Beach. Mary louise gayle, who has worked in public works for over 24 years and serves as a rightofway agent and is a resident of Virginia Beach. Alexander Mikhail Gusev who has worked for nine years in public works and is a rightofway agent and is a resident of Virginia Beach. Katherine a. Nixon who served in Public Utilities for over ten years as an engineer and as a resident of Virginia Beach. Richard h. Nettleton. Rich worked in Public Utilities for over 28 years. Served as an engineer, served with me as an lieutenant in germany in the 130th engineer brigade and was a resident of norfolk. Christopher kelly rapp who served in public works for just 11 months as an engineer and as a citizen of powhatan. Ryan keith cox, who served in Public Utilities for over 12 1 2 years and is an account clerk and a resident of Virginia Beach. Joshua a. Hardy, who served in Public Utilities for four and a half years as an Engineering Technician and as a resident of Virginia Beach. Michelle missy langer who served in Public Utilities for 12 years as an Administrative Assistant and as a resident of Virginia Beach. Robert Bobby Williams who served in Public Utilities for over 41 years as a special projects coordinator and as a resident of chesapeake. Herbert Bert Snelling who was a contractor trying to fill a permit and as a resident of Virginia Beach. So as we stop here and take a pause, im going to ask my chief of police to come forth and talk about that 13th person. Chief . As an update to where we are on the investigative process, first of all, our investigators, our detectives, our forensic technicians worked through the entire night in processing our scene and with dignity and respect in removing all of the victims in this particular case. The medical Examiners Office now will take over their part of the investigation. And that should take the next 48 hours, while they work through it, they are bringing in Additional Resources from richmond. During the investigative process, we were assisted by the federal bureau of investigation. They had 40 members of their investigative Forensic Task force from quantico and other places in throughout virginia assist us in this particular case. This is a largescale crime scene. Its a horrific crime scene. And please understand, it takes not only a physical, emotional, and psychological toll on everyone who spent the night inside that particular building. Atf is also assisting us. We did recover additional weapons at the scene. Im not at liberty to tell what those weapons are at this time. We also recovered additional weapons at the suspects home. The suspect, and this will be the only time we will announce his name, is dewayne craddock. He was an engineer with Public Utilities. He was employed with that department for approximately 15 years. The suspects family has also been notified. Victims, employees, any witnesses who wish to give Additional Information, theres a phone line set up by the federal bureau of investigation, 1800callfbi. 18002255234. We also have a large scale number of counselors available for the City Employees, for all City Employees who are touched by this event, as well as citizens and family members who may also be affected by this particular event. We were able to review some film last night, review some film of the officers who responded into the building. The officers checked every room on every floor, every closet, under every desk, and they escorted a large number of City Employees out of the building. And remember, they are escorting out of the victims while the victims were still in the building. It you to know those officers worked with compassion, they worked with caring, they worked with professionalism. In assisting our brothers and sisters who worked for our city. Thanks, chief. We are very thankful for the outpouring of support received from the people in the community, the region, and across the country. And we are especially grateful for the assistance that we are receiving from our sister cities here in hampton roads, from our state agencies, and from federal offices. The desire to help is strong. And we appreciate i more than you can say. We have posted on our vb. Gov website an opportunity for those that wish to volunteer to sign up and because weve had an outpouring of volunteers to serve as chaplains, to bring comfort dogs, to provide supplies. And now we have an outpouring of those that wish to donate to the families that are going to be in turmoil for quite some time. We are now working towards Employee Assistance and family assistance and we will turn our attention for the remainder of today to assign family liaison officers, to support those families that have been stricken by this horrible event. We are going to wrap our arms around those that serve with us here in Virginia Beach, and we are going to make sure that their families, their loved ones are taken care of and are supported and that we guide them through the days and weeks ahead. And at the same time as the chief said, we have a significant number of employees that have been mentally and physically affected by what they went through yesterday and the vision and the images that they had to experience inside one of our major Office Buildings here in the Municipal Center. I want to thank you all for being here today and i want to thank all of my elected officials for standing strong with us. And we are prepared to answer your questions. Is there anything you can tell us about a possible motive this morning. Possible motive of the suspect . No, sir, i cant at this particular time. Again, we are doing an indepth investigation preincident as well as the incident. Chief, had the suspect threatened employees in the past . Im not at liberty to give that information, again, because its part of the investigative process that we are in. Chief, can you tell us his Employment Status or at least how the shootout came to be on the premises. He was still employed. He had a security pass, like all employees had, and he was authorized to enter the building. And please keep in mind, we live in a free, open society. Citizens enter that building at all times. Citizens enter all government buildings, except for schools and courts, where theres a different level of security. Do you have any indication that he had a specific person that he wanted to target or person or persons . I do not have that at this time. Again, as we go further into the investigation, we may have Additional Information on that. Whether its an individual or not, we do have a largescale number of victims that were killed my the suspect. Chief, can you comment on all of the victims. Were most of them concentrated d in the office he worked in . I know you said yesterday that victims were found on all three floors. Were a majority or a group of them found in one place . Victims were throughout the building, except for the basement. So, no, sir, it wasnt just one particular area. It could be thats what he was looking for, but once he began once he engaged in this activity, it just continued throughout the building. Was there anyone killed in the office he worked in . I do not have the specific information on that right now. And did he say anything according to officers who were there . Did he say anything at all that you heard while the shots were being fired or before he was hit by police . No, they didnt have any engagement with him verbally. Once they identified him, he identified them, he immediately opened fire, we immediately returned the fire. And again, i want everyone to know that this was a longterm, lack of any other term, running gun battle with this individual. This was not what is traditionally a policeinvolved shooting. This was a longterm, large gunfight. [ inaudible ] on monday . Im sorry . Where will City Employees work on monday morning . We are working through that. Building 2 will be closed. We are going to have to relocate some of our Major Services that Public Utilities provided. They, of course, oversee our City Services and so weve got to reestablish some financial connectivity for bill paying, et cetera. Were in the process with the i. T. Department, relocating, but that building is going to take a little bit of time to reopen. We are looking at what level of service the government will provide to our citizens on monday and we will be making those announcements today and tomorrow. So stay informed. Are there any incidents on the suspects personnel file over the past 15 years that jumped out at you . Im not going to comment on hrrelated issue at this time. Im sorry . Criminal record . Not going to make a comment on that right now. Active military . Im not going to make that comment at this time. How secure was the building . How secure was the building . Go ahead. Its an open government building. It hases ha citizens have the right to access open government buildings. Employees have the right to access their work site. Its an open government building. Im going to follow up on that to say that the entry corridors and the service, the Public Service desks for those infrastructure departments are served by Administrative Assistants that work with the public, but all the inner all the accesses to the inner offices and Conference Rooms are secured and require this pass and as ive told you, he was in possession of a pass. Access to this building is important, but considering his gut punch of an attack, might you reassess security at this building . Of course we will do an afteraction review and take appropriate actions, should we determine that thesis a require. I want to follow up on the trauma that everyone is experiencing right now. What plan is there for assistance psychologically to all of the witnesses, victims, and other employees . We have numerous agencies that provide both family assistance and Employee Assistance. We have an outpouring of support from our assistive cities, from state agencies, from National Nonprofit organizations that do this. We are bringing them to bear. You know, we have just informed the families. You can imagine what theyre going through. We are going to sign honor guard officers from both our Police Department and our Fire Department as family liaison officers, so that they feel secure. They will be supported and assisted and as i said, were going to wrap our arms around our employees and their families and we are going to remain vigilant as well as committed to recovering from this incident. Can you please talk about the other victims, how many are still hospitalized, how theyre coming along . Well, right now were tracking four that are seriously injured. And i appreciate you asking that question, and a lot of us have said a lot of prayers that we were able to pull them through. And so, they are both at Virginia Beach and norfolk hospitals at this time. Can you tell us male, female employees . Im not going to relate patient data at this point. Was there anything in his personnel file. I know you didnt want to discuss his personnel file, but do you think there was anything in his work status, was he told he was being terminated or disciplined for something . Im not going to make comment on that, sir. Youve highlighted the Fast Response by police which likely saved lives. How long, though, was this gun battle . It was can i not tell you how many minutes, i cannot tell you how many seconds. In police work, a long gun battle means multiple, multiple shots are being fired by the suspect. So this wasnt a oneshot incident. Also, yesterday, the question was asked about training. And as recent as march 30th, we had a large scale training event, which incorporated not only police, but our colleagues in fire and ems and Sheriffs Department to be able to respond to a largescale event, such as this. So that was only a few weeks prior this particular incident. But i do want you to know that while we train extensively, while we go over all of our protocols extensively, once you enter an environment such as this, everything changes. Things change in a moments notice, such as the gun battle with the suspect. So we did train as recent as march 30th, but officers had to make instantaneous decisions at that moment in time on how to engage the suspect. They did it miraculous, because youre right, they did save other lives. Im sorry . The officer, how is he doing right now . He hes doing well. He was observed last night. We did take him to medical assistance. Hes okay. And again, its the fact that he has a bulletproof vest which saved his life. What information has he given you that you might be able to share with us . I cannot share information that that officer gave. I want you to know, remember that when we have a situation such as this and we begin to debrief our officers, theres numerous investigations that go simultaneously. One of which is a criminal investigation, because they did use deadly force. And then we also have administrative investigations. But we also have to keep in mind that theres a time period in which we want our officers to be able to not instantaneously have to give a decision. This is the most emotional event anyone can ever go through. And thats why we look out for the safety and welfare of our officers. Chief, you mentioned minutes. Are we speak more or less than 30 minutes . Less than 30 minutes. Yes, sir. How quickly did officers get there . Uim sorry . How quickly did officers arrive. Within the first call that came out from building 2, within minutes they were at that building. You cant tell me how many minutes . I dont have that exact data, but two of the individuals were supervisors from our building which is right across the street from building 2, they immediately mobilized and two of our k9 officers were with them, so they were in that building within minutes of the first call. Youre shouldering all of this. How are you doing . Im fine. We have a lot of support from our city. My main concern is our city workforce and my main concern, making sure that our manager is given all the information he needs to proceed forward. We do have a large city. We will open up on monday. And even though we will grieve as a city, we will continue to move forward. And the other thing is i want to make sure that all of our officers, our firefighters and ems personnel that were at that scene are taken care of at that moment. We are going to take one more question and then we will anticipate another briefing later this afternoon. One more question, please . You just mentioned the two officers who im assuming knowing this complex ran from the building. Is that accurate . Yes, sir. Can you talk about the proximity to the Police Department, when you said yesterday, around 400 workers in that building. How did the proximity of the Police Department to the building 2 help . Well, its very close. Its within a couple up, maybe 100, 150 yards of each building. So those two supervisors, and these are detective supervisors, they were out of the building instantaneously. They had the proper identification equipment on them, so that when other officers respond to the scene, they know that they are investigators with our department. And remember, once they made entry into building 2, they had to immediately determine who was a city worker escaping from the building and who could be the suspect. So there were a lot of Different Things that were happening mu i simultaneously, unlike when you see Something Like this in a choreographed tv or movie special, this is a very different environment. You cannot replicate the intensity of an environment such as this. Do you think people in the community will come to this. This is a public building, do you anticipate the public being scared in the coming days and weeks . Our job is to provide Public Safety to our residents, our visitors, our businesses, and we will ensure that they feel safe. As you heard, we cant answer a lot of these questions because the investigation continues. Were still inside the first 24 hours. I cant speak enough about the courage that police and forensics are showing in that building, with the carnage that exists in there and the work that they have done. And i can tell you that they are performing admirably with great courage. And that extends across all of the employees of Virginia Beach and those that are supporting us, as we do the heavy lifting in these initial hours. We will keep you informed. Our Public Affairs team is very thorough and inclusive and we will announce our next press conference very shortly. So thank you very much for being here. Briefings, we continually mention that we must keep the dignity and respect of the victims first and foremost and all the questions that ive received up to this point, particularly i want to thank the members of the media for understanding that and for keeping their dignity and their respect first and foremost in everything that you have been talking about. Can we get copies of the photos of the victims . We appreciate you all being here. We anticipate having another press conference this afternoon. Youve been listening to the Virginia Beach police chief jim cervera and dave hansen, the Virginia Beach city manager giving a few details on the investigation but what we have learned here are the names and we have seen the faces of those 12 people who were killed here yesterday. 11 of them City Employees. One a contractor who was working to get an approval for a permit and those City Employees were not just people on a job. Many of them had made this a career in terms of service from eleven months to more than 40 years here, the faces of those who have been killed on your screen. We also know that four people are still in local hospitals with serious injuries and we know that as part of this investigation that investigators say they have now found not only the weapons that were on scene, which we have discussed, the. 45 caliber handgun, the rifle, the suppresser, but also weapons found at the shooters home. T the police chief would not go into details there. Well take a quick break. Well talk more about the breaking news in Virginia Beach. Those 12 people killed, four still in hospitals and what were learning about that shooter. Stay with us, live special coverage continues in a moment. This network saved my life. My car was swept away in a flash flood. After about five hours, a lot of phone calls, they sent a helicopter, picked me up to safety. vo the network more people rely on, gives you more. Like big savings on our best phones when you switch. Thats verizon. You need some tlc on your eyelashes meet lash serum solution. Conditions and cares for your lashes with lash caring complex. See a denser, thickerlooking lash fringe in just 4 weeks. I would highly recommend it to anyone. With lash serum solution, 7 out of 10 women saw fewer lashes lost laqui laquita. My kale ambiguo Mikhail Gusev. Nettleton. Snelling. Change has many faces. Names youll never know. The brighteyed, the brave, the visionaries. Where challenges exist, youll find them. At citi, we empower people who are out to change the world. Because tomorrow belongs to those who welcome it with open arms. Citi. Welcome whats next welcome to fowler, indiana. One of the windiest places in america. And home to three bp wind farms. In the offchance the wind ever stops blowing here. The lights can keep on shining. Thanks to our natural gas. A smart partner to renewable energy. Its always ready when needed. Or. Not. At bp, we see possibilities everywhere. To help the world keep advancing. Back live in Virginia Beach, im victor black well, we just received new information on the mass shooting that happened here. Authorities just wrapped up a News Conference, an update on the shooting that claimed 12 lives. Investigators have now shared the names and the faces of those 12, 11 of whom were employees of the city. They worked for Virginia Beach, and speaking moments ago, the city manager said the community, the government here, the people will do everything to help the victims families and of course those survivors. We are going to wrap our arms around those that serve with us here in Virginia Beach, and we are going to make sure that their families, their loved ones are taken care of and are supported and that we guide them through the days and weeks ahead, and at the same time as the chief said, we have a significant number of employees that have been mentally and physically affected by what they went through yesterday and the vision and the images that they had to experience inside one of our major Office Buildings here in the Municipal Center. Reporter police say the suspect is dewayne craddock, an engineer who worked for the city. He was killed in that shootout with police. Back to you. Victor, thank you so much. I want to bring in representative Gregory Meeks of new york. I know representative meeks, you have been listening to this. What is your reaction, first of all . You know, my heart is just broken, to see those nen and women who just went those men and women who just went to work and will never get back home and the pain of their families, and then the frustration that we have in washington, d. C. To fix this problem that we have in the United States of gun violence. Its an epidemic, and i know i am tired. I have been in congress 20 years of now, it just seems it has accelerated that event after event, well go back on the floor, well have a moment of silence, and then do nothing. Why do you do nothing . There are people waking up to this again wondering what is congress doing by not being able to pass some sort of legislation that can protect the Second Amendment but they can also protect our people . Look, i dont have an answer to that question. I think that we have some common sense Gun Legislation that most of america agrees, all of the polls and everyone, that the nra and those that support the nra have to answer that question. It just does not make sense. But the nra not elected officials. The nra are not people who can enact laws. What is your biggest what is your biggest obstacle, when you go back into chambers and you have these conversations . Well, i dont have an obstacle, if you go and look at most of the folks in the democratic caucus, particularly, i know that i vote for it. I would vote for it today. I would have voted for it yesterday. Theres not an issue. You have to have 218 people to pass a bill and so i would say that we have to go and look at those individuals who refuse to pass a common sense bill and focus on them. Because thats what and we need the individuals within those respective districts to focus on them, and say we demand that you vote for this common sense gun control, and we have tried to work giving everybody, you know, something that they need, making sure that were not hurting those that use weapons to hunt and do other things. It just does not make sense. So yes, i am frustrated just as you. I know that i am and most of my colleagues on the democratic side of the aisle, at any rate, are frustrated because we want to do something. I have been here 20 years. This is ridiculous, and its got to stop. Representative Gregory Meeks from new york, we appreciate you being with us, sir. Thank you. Were going to be back here at 10 00 a. M. Newsroom, smerconish is with you next. Stay close. Captions by vitac www. Vitac. Com im Michael Smerconish in philadelphia, 12 people died in virginia yesterday and my first reaction was to wonder whether to cover it. Maybe that reveals a professional shortcoming in me, or perhaps it reflects the level of desensitizing that has taken place in america due to gun violence. Probably a little of both. Well, of course we wont ignore it. By now, you know the story, its the usual, a disturbing gunman went into his workplace and killed coworkers leaving 12 dead. In the u. S. , its the deadliest attack since the november 2018 shooting at the borderline bar and grill, where another 12 people were killed. Quick quiz, where was that . If you dont remember thousand oaks, california, im sure youre not alone. Its just another sign of how grown accustomed w
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