DeWayne Craddock and the 2019 Virginia Beach Municipal Center Massacre
Background
DeWayne Antonio Craddock was a 40-year-old civil engineer employed by the City of Virginia Beach, Virginia. On May 31, 2019, he carried out a mass shooting at Building 2 of the Virginia Beach Municipal Center, located at 2405 Courthouse Drive in the Princess Anne area of the city. Craddock murdered 12 people and wounded four others before he was fatally shot during a prolonged confrontation with responding police officers.
Craddock had studied civil engineering at Old Dominion University and previously served in the Virginia Army National Guard. He began working for the Virginia Beach Department of Public Utilities in the mid-2000s and spent many years managing engineering projects involving municipal water and sewer systems. He had no significant criminal history and had legally purchased the firearms later connected to the attack.
Events Before the Shooting
Craddock arrived at the municipal center during the morning of Friday, May 31, 2019, and initially appeared to follow his normal work routine. Investigators later determined that he searched online for maps of Building 2 and the surrounding municipal complex at approximately 10:00 a.m. At 10:31 a.m., he emailed a resignation letter to his supervisors. The resignation was accepted shortly afterward, although his departure was not intended to take effect immediately.
During the afternoon, Craddock traveled to several work sites with two coworkers before returning to Building 2 shortly before 3:30 p.m. At approximately 3:55 p.m., only minutes before the violence began, he sent a routine work-related email. Nothing in the wording of his resignation or final workplace communications directly announced his intention to commit an attack.
The Attack at Building 2
The shooting began at approximately 4:08 p.m. on May 31, 2019. Craddock first opened fire outside Building 2, killing a victim seated inside a vehicle in the parking area. He then shot another person near the entrance before entering the municipal office building.
Building 2 contained offices for the city's public utilities, public works and planning departments. Craddock retained an employee identification badge that allowed him to pass through secured doors and enter work areas that were inaccessible to members of the general public. Once inside, he moved through offices, corridors and stairways on all three floors while shooting employees.
The building was undergoing renovations, and some workers initially mistook the gunfire for construction noise or the sound of a nail gun. Others received telephone calls, text messages or verbal warnings instructing them to hide or evacuate. Employees barricaded office doors, hid beneath desks and attempted to escape through windows and stairwells as the attack continued.
Investigators concluded that Craddock fired at people in different sections of the building rather than remaining in one location. Eleven of those killed were City of Virginia Beach employees. The twelfth victim was a private contractor who had entered the building on city-related business. Four additional people suffered gunshot wounds but survived.
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