CHESAPEAKE, Va. - Tuesday night's mass shooting at the Sam's Circle Walmart has once again put Hampton Roads in the national spotlight for violence. It's the latest high-profile incident of violence in the region and the most deadly since the 2019 mass shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center.
"It's the phone call you never want to happen," said former Virginia Beach Police Chief Jim Cervera, who led the police department's response to the 2019 shooting.
In May 2019, a gunman killed 12 people.
"It's one of those things - we think about, we train for, we read about - but until it happens to you, you have no idea what the effect could be," Cervera said in an interview with News 3 Wednesday.
Cervera remembers a profound effect on the community - a region united in grief, but also in support of the victims and their families.
He expects a similar response in Chesapeake.
"The entire community will feel the reverberation of this because it's at a location that a large portion of the community goes to. They identify with that location. It might not be the exact Walmart, but the surrounding area, but they identify with it, so they identify with what happened," said Cervera.
Just like in Virginia Beach in 2019, police quickly responded to the Walmart in 2022. "I think the response was excellent," he said.
The response, however, can take its toll.
"You will never get over it. It will always be with you. It's just whether you have the stamina if you will. It will always be with them," said Cervera.
He says anyone involved needs to take care of their mental health. "The families to the first responders - if needed, make that reach out. Society now accepts it," he said.
The National Crisis Lifeline is now just three digits 988. Here are links to other mental health resources.
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