If you are in the area at all or have any connection to Virginia Beach, I am so sorry your community is suffering.
Just saw the news. I’m so sad and angry to see this. Life is so precious.
So awful! I think it was a disgruntled employee? Terrible
I wonder how many of these sad gun-related mass killing threads we’ve had here on CC.
@alwaysamom - too many ?
Even one is one too many.
I visited VB once 30 odd years ago and found it to be a lovely place. My heart bleeds for the dead, injured, their friends and family and the entire community.
Too many, but never too many to comment on if they occur because I feel we need to support those here on CC who may be affected. And surely this shooting, like others, hits close to home for someone here on CC.
<3
My heart also goes out to those affected - thinking they are having a normal day as they should.
I’ll also admit I worried a tad when I heard the news. H, with all he has going on (including a 50+ year old cousin who died yesterday on top of everything else), was around 30-40 minutes away. Far enough, but I didn’t know how specific the news was when the story was new. My brain is pretty spooked right now I think. For too many people, that “spook” didn’t go away when they zeroed in. My heart goes out to them.
It does make some (like us) rather eager to just move to where this isn’t a “where this time?” story.
There’s really no spot in the US that is particularly safe from gun violence. But Australia and New Zealand have more success.
Here in PA, there was just a big demonstration at the capital. People there to advocate for fewer gun laws that “infringe” on their rights. So don’t move here.
It’s disgraceful that this country has shooting after shooting with no changes.
If we care so much about protecting life, we should be starting with gun control and better access to healthcare.
It’s definitely unsettling. I just read the employee was a professional engineer with PW. Our PW director from time to time calls in the police when letting people go. And working in a public building, we have “interesting” people wander through on a more regular basis than one would like. Happy people don’t usually visit government buildings. We took an intruder training class and had a panic button installed on our phones. However, the only way you know if someone in the building activates it is when the “all clear” notice comes over the loudspeaker or you just happen to look at the window on your phone when it’s in effect. Who stares at their desk phone all day? I don’t get how it’s supposed to help. The police are on the first floor so they should know something is going on anyway!
But in any case, I can’t imagine what they are going through. I can’t imagine losing so many of my co-workers so quickly like that. My heart goes out to them.
I understand that the first responders arrived quickly; but since the shooter was a genuine employee
As a lawyer for a large corporation, this is a big concern of mine and I don’t think we (my company) take it as seriously as I would like. Taking away someone’s job is a very devastating thing, and there are more and more incidents involving violent reactions. I have recommended law enforcement on a couple of occasions. One of our most concerning terminations was of a female. In our state you can have weapons concealed in your vehicle at your workplace, even if they are prohibited inside the building. I guess this VA shooter was disgruntled and not being terminated, though. I don’t know what the answer is to these horrific incidents- and they keep happening. I have a professional contact who is a lawyer for RiteAid which had the horrible warehouse shooting in 2018. He said dealing with the aftermath of that was the most horrible thing he ever imagined. I don’t understand why people want to kill other people this way.
I actually said to my husband that Americans must derive some secret sick satisfaction from these random acts of gun carnage, because other than lighted prayer vigils, we don’t do a thing—except buy more guns. Exactly what does that say to you? Honestly, I’m asking.
I live 40 minutes away from Va. Beach, but I wasn’t shocked by this occurrence. I kinda keep expecting to be caught in the middle of a shooting of this sort eventually, as whenever I’m out and about, I often have the fleeting thought that someone could get it in their head that today is a fine day for a massacre right where I happen to be. My brother was at the Naval Yard in DC a few years ago when that contract employee went on his shooting spree. Fortunately, it was not his building, but the next one over. I remember feeling chills when he pointed out that had it been his building, chances were high that he’d have been shot. His office is only a few feet inside the main entrance of his building, which is where he was working when the shooting commenced next door.
I’ve quite frankly given up hope. Maybe the generation coming of age in America’s high schools will make something happen, but I ain’t holding my breath.
And I’ve stopped praying too.
I’ve come to believe that collectively, we are the stupidest country on earth. We are simply willing to tolerate mass shootings on an increasingly regular basis as the price we will pay for a very peculiar sort of “freedom”.
Being an American has become a very discouraging thing, and I never would have imagined feeling this way as recently as 10 years ago. Just pathetic.
I wonder how many of us have first hand experiences - or family members do - with workplace or other mass shootings. H worked in Tampa when the Rocky Point office shooting took place back in the early '90s. I was scared stiff for him because we didn’t have cell phones back then. I took my oldest - then my only - out in the stroller to the local park to distract myself until we had more news. By doing that I walked right by the shooter as he sat on a picnic table waiting to commit suicide. I recall seeing him there very sad/distressed looking in his suit and thinking I should go talk with him/comfort him, but my mind was too scared for H so I just kept walking feeling guilty at not being there for the guy to listen/help. I was worried about H, but walked right in the red zone if he had wanted to keep killing like today’s killers often do.
That whole scene is still quite clear in my mind. The dude did commit suicide right in front of another mother and her kids shortly after I went by.
Am I the only one here who has looked around the office and thought “what would be a good place to hide?”. I’m serious. This country does nothing about this, A few days of “thoughts and prayers”, that’s it. We are on our own.
@FallGirl It’s now a regular part of our high school instruction (middle school too) to teach kids how to handle mass shooting situations. We teach it for school and tell them to modify as necessary for workplaces, theaters, restaurants - you name it. They learn to run, hide, or fight as needed.
I never, ever, thought that would be part of a high school education back when I learned these things as part of my AF training, but such is life now. It’s sad TBH.
@Creekland How awful! I am sorry. No doubt that will stick in your minds forever.
in the early 90s, my Dad was working at the CIA when a guy sat outside and shot people turning into the complex going into work for the day. At the time, there were no cell phones and the only details they released for the victims were age, gender, and race. One of the descriptions fit my Dad and it was during the time he was supposed to be getting to work. My mom couldn’t call - we never knew his phone # because it changed so often - and they wouldn’t let anyone call out. It wound up he was late that morning and missed it.
Personally, fortunately the closest I’ve come is running by a convenience store in the wee hours of the morning 10-15 min before an armed robbery. I always wonder if they were there waiting for me to run by and leave so I wouldn’t be a witness. If so, I’m thankful they did.
@FallGirl You should definitely scope out your office and find places to hide and items to fight back with. That was part of our training. I’ve also learned that I can indeed fit out my office window and walk across the ledge and/or hang and drop to the ground. (I work on the second floor) Our office also bought these door jams to help lock people out. Of course, our doors are all glass or frosted glass, so it wouldn’t last long, but it could buy a few moments.
It’s also sobering to think that I’ve probably sat with the victims/shooter in conferences/workshops. VA Beach is one the the leaders in local administration for VDOT projects. It could happen to any one of us. And we do have a policy that concealed weapons are allowed at work if you have the permit. In some ways it makes sense because our employees are regularly threatened out in the field. But at the same time, it’s just unsettling.
Creekland- that is terrifying. We have active shooter training at work and I absolutely have considered where to hide. Our offices have glass fronts and are not very secure.
We always look for the nearest exit and escape route whenever we go anywhere. D was trained to do the same (from school ALICE training). DH’s last employee had field dressings and combat medic gear in their plant just in case. They often called for police if there was a difficult termination.
It’s a sad world we are living in.