Law enforcement officials work outside a municipal building that was the scene of a shooting, Saturday, June 1, 2019, in Virginia Beach, Va. A longtime city employee opened fire at the building Friday before police shot and killed him, authorities said. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Latest on xxxxxxx (all times local):
8:35 a.m.
Officials have identified the gunman who killed 12 people and then was shot by officers at a Virginia Beach municipal building as Dewayne Craddock.
Authorities used a Saturday morning news conference to focus on the victims. They projected photos on a screen and gave each victim's name along with biographical details.
Officials identified Craddock for the first time after talking about the victims. They say they will name Craddock only once, then will not refer to him again.
___
1:30 a.m.
Authorities say a longtime city employee wielding a .45-caliber handgun with a suppressor fatally shot 12 people on three floors of a municipal building in Virginia Beach before police shot him.
Four other people were wounded in Friday's shooting, including a police officer whose bulletproof vest saved his life.
Police Chief James Cervera says the suspect engaged in a "long gunbattle" with law enforcement officers. He says officers gave the suspect first aid after he was shot, but he died.
Cervera said Friday that he would release the suspect's name after authorities had contacted his family, but would mention the name only once.
He said after that, "he will be forever referred to as the suspect because our focus now is the dignity and respect to the victims in this case and to their families."
___
Associated Press writers Regina Garcia Cano in Washington, D.C.; Denise Lavoie in Richmond, Virginia; and Tom Foreman Jr. in Charlotte, North Carolina, contributed to this report.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
