U.S. police identify Virginia Beach shooter as city employee

World
Europe

00:52

The shooter who killed 12 people in a mass shooting in Virginia Beach, in the eastern U.S. state of Virginia, on Friday, has been identified as DeWayne Craddock, a 15-year city employee, local police said in a press conference on Saturday.

He was still employed at the public utilities at the time of the shooting and did have a security pass, city manager Dave Hansen said.

Virginia State Troopers guard a roadblock on June 1, 2019. /VCG photo

Eleven of the 12 deaths in Friday's shooting were employees of the city, Hansen said. The other was a contractor seeking a permit.

U.S. President Donald Trump offered his condolences to families of victims and the whole community, Trump said on Twitter.

Screenshot of U.S. President Donald Trump's Twitter account.

Updated at 10:35 a.m. BJT.

At least 12 people were killed and four others injured after a gunman opened fire at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center in the U.S. on Friday afternoon.

Police chief James Cervera told reporters at a press conference that the four injured are receiving surgeries, adding that the suspected gunman was killed at the scene after exchanging a "long-term gun battle" gunfire with the police.

According to Cervera, the shooter was a longtime public utilities employee and used a 45-caliber handgun equipped with a "sound suppressor" device on Friday's shooting.

A police tape blocks the road to access the Virginia Beach municipal center, the site of a mass shooting on May 31, 2019. / VCG photo

The incident took place at around 4:00 p.m. local time when the gunman entered the complex which housed the city's public works and utilities offices, and "immediately began to indiscriminately fire on all of the victims."

The motive behind the shooting remains unclear as an investigation into the case has been ordered.

Following the shooting, Virginia governor Ralph Northam said in a statement: "This is unspeakable, senseless violence."

Virginia Beach vice mayor said, "I'm in shock. I'm certainly numbed."

(With inputs from Xinhua News Agency)

11399km