On a tragic spring day in Virginia Beach, Virginia, 65-year-old Mary Louise 'Mary Lou' Crutsinger Gayle was killed in a senseless act of violence. On May 31, 2019, a disgruntled city employee opened fire at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center, taking the lives of 12 people, including Gayle. The gunman, identified as 40-year-old DeWayne Craddock, was an engineer with the city's public utilities department.
The attack unfolded in the late afternoon when Craddock entered Building 2 of the
municipal center, a building familiar to him as an employee. Armed with two. 45-caliber pistols, he moved through the building, firing indiscriminately at his colleagues. The shooting spree created a scene of terror and chaos as employees sought safety. Mary Lou Gayle, a dedicated public servant, was among those who tragically lost their lives during the rampage. The assault ended when police confronted Craddock and he was killed in the ensuing gunfight.
In the aftermath, investigations sought to understand the motive behind the horrific event. While no single reason was ever definitively confirmed, reports from the FBI indicated that Craddock was motivated by perceived workplace grievances that he had fixated on for years. It was revealed that he had tendered his resignation via email just hours before the attack. Because the perpetrator was killed at the scene, there were no arrests to be made in connection with the shooting. The incident remains one of the deadliest workplace shootings in U.S. history, leaving the community of Virginia Beach to mourn the loss of Mary Lou Gayle and the eleven other innocent victims.
