Hours before killing 12 people inside a Virginia Beach municipal building on Friday, the gunman, a longtime city employee, submitted his resignation.
DeWayne Craddock, a 40-year-old public utilities engineer, turned in his two-week notice that morning, City Manager Dave Hansen confirmed in a news conference Sunday, according to NBC affiliate WAVY-TV.
The resignation was delivered via email, The Associated Press reported.
Just after 4 p.m. Friday, Craddock entered the building and fired randomly at employees on multiple floors with two .45-caliber handguns, authorities said. Police also found a silencer. Eleven city workers and one contractor were killed.
Police Chief Jim A. Cervera said officers arrived on the scene of the sprawling city government complex within two minutes of being dispatched. Shortly after, they confronted the shooter and exchanged fire in what Cervera described as a “long-term gun battle.” Craddock, who was identified on Saturday as the gunman, died while being transported to the hospital.
On Saturday, The Washington Post reported that a note signed “The Craddocks” had been posted on the door of the Craddock family’s Yorktown, Virginia, home. The letter read, in part, “We are grieving the loss of our loved one. At this time we wish to focus on the victims and the lives lost during yesterday’s tragic event. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who lost their lives, and those recovering in the hospital.”
Police have not yet released a motive for the shooting and have made it clear their announcement of the gunman’s identity was the one and only time they would utter his name.
After identifying Craddock, Cervera told reporters that he would “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.”