In its final briefing on the Virginia Beach Municipal Center shooting, the FBI told the Virginia Beach Police Department (VBPD) that the shooter was motivated by perceived workplace grievances.
The FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit (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,” the FBI Norfolk Field Office said in a Wednesday press release. “Violence was viewed by the shooter as a way to reconcile this conflict and restore his perverted view of justice.”
On the afternoon of May 31, 2019, Public Utilities Engineer DeWayne Craddock entered the city’s Municipal Center hours after emailing his two week’s resignation notice to his superiors, according to the FBI’s March 2021 report. Officials said he was not being fired nor was he in a termination process, The Virginian Pilot reported shortly after the shooting. He killed 12 victims; he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, according to the report. Four additional victims survived. In a firefight, the shooter shot a police officer, who survived.
VBPD asked the FBI to help respond and investigate the incident. Along with the work of the BAU, FBI teams conducted evidence recovery, forensic analysis, victim support, and interviews.
The March FBI report lists several years of records of workplace performance incidents and corrective actions. Still, the report found that department leaders said the shooter would have met job performance standards in his upcoming evaluation. That report didn’t make any conclusions on motive and in March the BAU report was still pending.
In the Wednesday announcement, the FBI summarized the BAU report: “BAU assesses the shooter was motivated by perceived workplace grievances, which he fixated on for years.”
The announcement notes that the shooter had mental health stressors, but the stressors alone don’t explain the attack. He had also purposely isolated himself “to conceal his intentions,” the summary said.
The BAU said the shooter is similar to other active shooters.
“Mass shootings are a predatory act, generally with planned and purposeful violence intended for an identified target, person, place, or institution,” the summary states.
“The purpose of this type of analysis is to help law enforcement better understand mass violence, and to use the lessons learned from each incident to prevent future incidents from occurring,” the Wednesday announcement said.
“The members of BAU are aware of the horrific impact of this incident and extend our deepest sympathies to the victims, survivors, families, and community,” the FBI Norfolk Field Office said in the announcement. “Our hope is that by helping develop a better understanding of why people commit these horrible acts of violence, we can ultimately help prevent future tragedies.”
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Eric Burk is a reporter at The Virginia Star and the Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
