VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.— Virginia Beach Delegate Kelly Fowler claims she has a laptop allegedly belonging to 2019 Virginia Beach mass shooter, DeWayne Craddock. So far, that laptop has not been turned in to the Virginia Beach Police Department.
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, as of Monday night, she still has the laptop and hasn't turned it over to any law enforcement agency.
"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 Monday 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.
