RICHMOND, Va. – Strong emotions as the State Commission for the Virginia Beach Mass Shooting heard from families members of those killed on that tragic day.
The Commission has been tasked with making recommendations after examining the shooting that left 12 people dead and 4 injured.
Wednesday loved ones of the victims told the Commission they are still struggling and do not believe they have given the proper mental, emotional or financial support over the last four years.
The meeting happened at the Patrick Henry Building in Downtown Richmond from 9am – noon.
Several family members asked the Commission to continue to work to get them answers.
Bert Snelling was not a city employee, but was at Building 2 dealing with paperwork for a construction project with the city the day of the shooting.
His wife told the Commission, “We still have no answers.”
She said she wants to get more details about that tragic day. She said she has been told different information about the final moments.
DeWayne Craddock was an employee who opened fired and killed 12 people who were fellow employees expect for Snelling.
According to a letter sent to families in 2021 by the Virginia Beach City Manager investigators, "deliberately and methodically processed evidence, conducted interviews, ran tests, and tested theories."
The final report from the city detailed the tragic events that took place on May 31, 2019. However, the letter states that unfortunately, "no evidence was found that sheds light on the shooter's motive."
As part of the investigative team’s effort to determine the shooter’s motivation for the workplace attack, VBPD requested assistance from the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), based in Quantico, Virginia. Below was part of a summary issued:
BAU assesses the shooter was motivated by perceived workplace grievances, which he fixated on for years. BAU found the shooter struggled with how he perceived his own work performance and how others at work viewed him. The shooter’s inflated sense of self-importance contributed to this conflict and led him to believe he was unjustly and repeatedly criticized and slighted.
Jason Nixon’s wife Kate was killed that day and he believes she was targeted by the shooter. He said they have not been given straight answers from the day the shooting happened.
He’s led the charge for getting answers and alleges that personnel issues about the shooter have not been disclosed.
Recently, Delegate Kelly Fowler said she had a laptop that possibly belonged to the shooter but Wednesday stressed to the Commission that she gave it to the Department of Justice.
“I’d really like to clarify that I don’t have it. It was given to me. I got rid of it as soon as I knew it was a dangerous thing and I made it public. I want Commission to be able to use it and I want to Commission to be productive,” said Fowler.
The issue surrounding the laptop was on the agenda for the Commission Wednesday.
The Commission was tasked with making recommendations after reviewing how the Virginia Beach Mass Shooting was handled.
The group of volunteers is working to examine different aspects of how the situation unfolded and the aftermath. They have different workgroups looking at the Emergency Response Plan, Human Resources, Safety and Technology, Legal, and other issues.
Wednesday they discussed how the next of kin notification could be quicker and help from the Red Cross should have been accepted by the city.
David Cariens is a former CIA officer and a member of the Commission. He has been outspoken against how the Commission has been operating and claimed they are not moving fast enough. He said he does not believe the investigation has not been done thoroughly.
He also claimed that his efforts to speak directly to employees have been hindered.
He said he wants to look into how other Human Resource Departments in other cities in the Commonwealth handle grievances.
He said he does not think the victims have been given the proper support.
Several Commission members stepped down in recent months from their positions which has left several vacancies.
Last month Attorney General Jason Miyares expressed disappointment with the Commission lack of progress.
“I’ve seen more movement and improvement since the Attorney General’s letter then I had months before that, so I thank the Attorney General for doing it,” said Cariens.
Matt Gayle lost his mother Mary Lou Gayle in the shooting.
“I cannot put towards in what this has caused us personally, mentally, and emotionally. I won’t even try. What I will say is that when we needed help that help was not forthcoming and has not been forthcoming,” said Gayle.
He said the family has had to pay for mental health resources and doesn't feel like they have received the right kind of support.
Several people complained about the lack of money available to help them deal with the emotional stress.
Nixon said Craddock deliberately targeted certain employees who he had anger towards.
Those at the meeting said they want answers for those who were killed but also the employees who survived the shooting that terrible day.
“I can’t imagine them being in that building and having to hold their hands on top of their head and walk over their coworkers, dead and in their blood. I just can’t imagine,” said Sonja Snelling.
“We’ve been doing this on deaf ears a lot, but we’ve been doing it and I’m not going to stop because I made a promise to my wife that we would get this right. My children deserve that, my wife deserves that, and so do all the families that died that day,” said Nixon.
Leaders of the Commission said they would hold some of the future meetings in Virginia Beach to make it easier for those that have been impacted.
News 3 previously reported that Virginia Beach Delegate Kelly Fowler claims she has a laptop allegedly belonging to 2019 Virginia Beach mass shooter, DeWayne Craddock.
Fowler said this laptop was placed in her hands by Beth Mann, a former city employee who according to Fowler was fired for statements made about the 2019 mass shooting. But questions remain about whether the laptop actually belonged to the municipal center gunman, or whether it contains evidence related to the shooting.
"I did see his pictures that he took," Fowler told News 3's Kelsey Jones. "I did see a couple of gun pictures and other pictures."
Fowler said Mann sent her an email last weekend after Mann found the laptop at the gunman's condo in November. Fowler said Mann was there with one of the shooting victims' sisters, who sued the gunman's estate and won, giving the victim’s sister access to Craddock's property.
Mann said they found multiple electronics in the home, including the laptop.
"She brought it to me and said she didn't feel comfortable having it. She wanted it to be public because she didn't want anything buried or hidden," said Fowler.
In 2019, Craddock entered the Virginia Beach Municipal center and opened fire, killing 12 people and injuring 4 others. After several investigations, no clear motive has been determined, but many claimed a hostile work environment played a role.
"Everyone is still so heightened after the mass shooting, and it's just because there's not a lot of transparency...if they can get some transparency, it would help the healing," said Fowler.
"I don't know how you miss a laptop, it just seems like a hard item to miss so that's why the search is so important to know more about," Fowler said when asked if she thought the FBI or police missed any prominent information.
But according to the investigation, Virginia Beach police did search for digital evidence from Craddock— collecting data, hard drives, and his city computer.
Fowler said she gave the laptop to her attorney.
"I think it needs to go higher and since I'm a state official," she said. "I'm thinking that I would need to bring it to state police, I need to talk to my attorney."
Virginia Beach police told News 3 they just learned about this laptop at the beginning of the year after Fowler put out a press release to the media saying she had it and news organizations started asking questions.
The FBI said it's now aware of this situation, but they no longer play a role in this case.
This comes as some of the victim’s family members have expressed concern over the way the authorities have handled this entire investigation.
The 12 names of those shot and killed on May 31, 2019, were read aloud Tuesday in front of the municipal center’s Building 2 where the horror played out.
Several devastated family members of the victims are calling themselves 5/31 Families United as they call for transparency and demand answers about the shooting.
Sarah Gayle Leonard’s mother Mary Lou Gayle was murdered that day at work. She was a city employee for 24 years. Gayle Leonard said her mother warned supervisors about the shooter’s odd behavior a year beforehand.
“She never had anything negative to say,” said Gayle Leonard. “For her to express concern repeatedly that fell on deaf ears, and now for that record to be completely missing is very concerning.”
Three and a half years after the massacre, Gayle Leonard said her family is still in pain and is suffering.
My heart and my brain have been broken by what has transpired,” she said. “Every day when I come home from work, I cry because I’m used to calling my mom at that time. No part of it is healed. No part of it can heal because we know the truth hasn’t even been told.”
Those families are now calling on the city and demanding justice and support, including mental health resources and insurance benefits. They say they’ve only known fragments of what happened that day.
“In the years since her untimely death and preventable death, her 24 years of service has not offered her grieving and distraught family any answers of accountability," said Matt Gayle of his mother Mary Lou. "Instead, we’ve been met with manipulation and lies."
Denise Smallwood lost her twin brother Joshua O. Hardy.
“We have been stepped on; stepped across; ignored; pushed to the side; disrespected; lied to; deceived; tortured and just totally forgotten,” Smallwood said. “It is time for justice.”
Jason Nixon is leading the fight. He said his family was denied medical benefits after his wife Kate, a city engineer and mother to their three young girls, was killed.
"You know what their (city) response was? Kate did not technically retire from the City of Virginia Beach, so they couldn’t give me medical, dental, and eye insurance,” said Nixon. “What a slap in the face that was to me and my family, my girls.”
Former Lt. governor and lawyer Justin Fairfax said he’s retained five of the families to represent so far - the families of Kate Nixon; Mary Lou Gayle; LaQuita Brown; Joshua O. Hardy; and Missy Langer.
Fairfax said now is the time the city should reimburse them for mental health treatment and other costs the families have shouldered from the lingering pain.
“For three and a half years, these families had to fight on their own,” he said. “They no longer have to fight on their own. We are all in this together. I do not want one more year to go by without justice for these families.”
The city responded late Tuesday afternoon. In a statement, the city said they’ve been transparent with the internal investigation, worked with the FBI to review evidence, and provided support, including a combined $1.5 million in workers' compensation benefits.
The city spokesperson Tiffany Russell sent this statement:
The horrific events of May 31, 2019 left an indelible scar on everyone affiliated with the City of Virginia Beach, especially the families of those who died and were injured that day. Four investigative reviews have occurred in the past 3.5 years to help us try to understand this senseless tragedy:
- Our Virginia Beach Police Department conducted an in-depth internal investigation and shared the results publicly.
- Hillard Heintze conducted an independent review. We continue to implement recommendations of this report to include efforts like Human Resources centralization and security improvements through the addition of our Office of Emergency Management (OEM) Security Division.
- The City fully cooperated with the FBI. The FBI independently reviewed all known electronic data associated with the shooter.
- The City continues to assist the Commission on the May 31, 2019 Virginia Beach Mass Shooting. We have answered the questions of the commission in writing and have attended their public meeting. We continue to respond to their questions related to ongoing efforts of our organization as part of this incident.
The City has willingly supported our employees and the victims’ families since that day. While not an exhaustive list of our support, the City provided the following:
- Every victim’s family was offered individual meetings with our Police Department to review and discuss investigative findings.
- The City established a dedicated office and staff resources committed to long-term recovery efforts for those impacted and our workforce.
- The six physically injured workers have received from the City a combined $5.3M in workers compensation benefits to-date.
- The estates of the 11 employees we lost that day have received from the City a combined $1.5M in workers compensation benefits.
- The above funding is in addition to the kind donations the families/injured workers received from the United Way-administered charitable fund.
- The VB Strong Center, established October 2019, continues to offer services into 2023 to empower and uplift those affected by May 31 in their journeys to healing and resiliency.
- The City shares the families’ desire to obtain a full forensic evaluation of the recently discovered laptop that allegedly belongs to the shooter. We look forward to prompt submission of this laptop to a law enforcement agency for evaluation. We share the families’ hopes that it will shed further light on May 31, 2019.
Stay with News 3 for updates.
