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Officials in the US city of Virginia Beach have named the 12 people killed by a gunman who went on a rampage in a municipal building on Friday.
City manager David Hansen said the victims – 11 local authority workers and one contractor – “leave a void we will never be able to filled”.
The gunman shot indiscriminately before dying in a gun battle with police.
He has been identified as DeWayne Craddock and described by police as a disgruntled city employee.
How did the shooting unfold?
The attack began shortly after 16:00 (20:00 GMT), at Virginia Beach Municipal Center, in an area which is home to a number of city government buildings. The area was put into lockdown by police and employees were evacuated.
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Reuters
The municipal complex was placed into lockdown and evacuated
One of the victims was shot outside in a car, and the rest were found over three floors of the government building.
Four officers entered the building and located the gunman inside and “immediately engaged” him, police chief James Cervera said. The attacker was then shot dead.
The police chief described the scene as a “war zone”.
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Reuters
The shooting was at Building 2 in Virginia Beach Municipal Center
“I want you to know that during this gun battle, basically the officers stopped this individual from committing more carnage in that building,” Mr Cervera said.
Police recovered a rifle and a handgun, thought to have been used by the suspect, at the scene.
Tragedy ahead of gun awareness day
Harry Low, BBC News, Virginia Beach
At the end of a shortened working week following Monday’s Memorial Day holiday, many families are facing a future without their loved ones.
Survivors speak of sleepless nights ahead. Virginia’s largest city has now become the site for this country’s largest mass shooting in 2019.
The latest tragedy has taken place ahead of the annual National Gun Violence Awareness Day on Sunday. This will provide little comfort to those who want to see an end to the easy access to guns which frequently bring schools and cities across America to prominence for all the wrong reasons.
What is known about the victims?
The municipal workers were named as Laquita Brown; Tara Gallagher; Mary Louise Gayle; Alexander Gusev; Katherine Nixon; Richard Nettleton; Christopher Kelly Rapp; Ryan Keith Cox; Jashua Hardy; Michelle Langer; Robert Williams.
The contractor who died was identified as Herbert Snelling.
At least four people are known to have been wounded, including a police officer, but the severity of their injuries remained unclear.
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AFP
The injured officer’s life was saved by his bulletproof vest.
According to US tracking website Gun Violence Archive, the incident is the 150th mass shooting in the US so far in 2019.
The site defines a mass shooting as a gun attack in which at least four people are either killed or wounded.
Virginia city names mass shooting victims
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