VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A longtime municipal employee in Virginia Beach shot and killed 11 people Friday afternoon and injured several others inside a public works building before he was killed in an exchange of gunfire with police, city officials said.
Police Chief James Cervera said an officer was among the six wounded but was saved by his protective vest. He said the gunman, whom he did not identify, “fired indiscriminately” on several floors of the building, one of many in the complex.
“This is the most devastating day in the history of Virginia Beach,” Mayor Bobby Dyer said. “People involved friends, co-workers, neighbors, colleagues.”
The shooting occurred about 4 p.m. near the end of the workday, as employees were winding down for the weekend. A city spokesman said the shooter worked in the public utilities department.
City Councilman Aaron Rouse tweeted, “Pray for our City!” He later said, “This day will not define Virginia Beach … We will come together.”
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, who visited the scene, called it “a horrific day for Virginia.”
“Our thoughts are with the victims and their families,” Northam said.
Megan Banton, who works in the public works building where the shooting occurred, said she was on the second floor of the building when her supervisor heard a loud noise and told people to go into her office.
The sound of gunshots continued as about 20 people huddled on the floor after they barricaded the door with a desk. “We kept hearing gunfire,” Banton said. “We were trying to keep as quiet as possible.”
She said some people in the office were crying while others appeared nervous and some remained silent.
Friday’s shooting added another city to the growing list of places affected by a mass shooting. It is the deadliest since February, when a warehouse employee in Aurora, Ill., opened fire after being told he would lose his job. That gunman killed five people and injured five police officers before dying in a shootout with law enforcement personnel.
Virginia Beach, a resort city with an population of about 450,000, is the most populous city in the state. It has nearly twice as many residents as Richmond. The municipal center is a sprawling compound of more than 30 buildings and annexes that includes City Hall, courts and offices for multiple city departments, a city directory shows.
The three-story Building 2, where the shooting occurred, has about 200 workers who inspect properties, issue building permits, handle zoning issues and deal with the complex issues of public works, from trash pickup to water distribution.
“It’s where all of our city business is located,” Rouse said.
Relatives of victims were told to gather at a middle school for updates Friday afternoon, even as officials with the medical examiner’s office headed to the scene. Police and other public safety workers were busy processing the vast crime scene and trying to identify the victims Friday night; they were expected to be there into Saturday.
Conditions of the surviving victims were not immediately available; five patients were sent to Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital and one was taken to Sentara Princess Anne Hospital.
Banton, the employee who was on the second floor of the public works building, said she has an 11-month-old baby boy and sheltered in the office wondering if she would ever see him again.
“You never think this is going to happen to you. When it happens to you, it’s totally different,” Banton said.
Sheila Cook, who was in the courthouse in the complex, told a local television news station she heard muffled gunshots but knew it wasn’t in her building. She said police acted quickly to alert people that they were safe after the shooter had been apprehended.
“That was enough to make me feel safe enough to come outside, and that God was with us,” she said. “I’m feeling shaken and relieved at the same time.”
Harold Gaskill, a supervisor in the permits and inspections office, was at home on his last day of a week-long vacation when news of the shooting broke. He said he spent the next two hours calling his workers and other colleagues. Everyone he knew made it through unharmed, he said.
Gaskill, 63, has worked for the city for 29 years. He said he works on the first floor of Building 2, which houses permits and inspections and zoning and planning offices. It is frequented by the public. He said he was told by co-workers that the shootings occurred on the second and third floors, where offices for public works and utilities are located.
“As far as I know, everyone in my office is OK,” Gaskill said. He added that he has not learned names of the dead or injured, or that of the shooter. “It’s just hard to believe right now,” he said. “I don’t understand it.”
Cervera, the police chief, said it was too soon provide details about the gunman or how the shooting unfolded, though the attack appeared to be quick. He said officers entered the building shortly after the first calls and confronted the shooter. He said the FBI is assisting in the investigation.
“There is no way to describe an incident such as this,” Cervera said. “The suspect was immediately confronted … our citizens can rest easy tonight.”
Northam, in a statement, said his “deepest condolences and prayers go to the families of those who left home this morning, and will not return tonight, as well as those who have been injured in this tragedy.”