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Virginia flags at half-staff to mourn Virginia Beach shooting victims

Posted at 2:12 PM, Jun 01, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-01 14:23:52-04

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- Gov. Ralph Northam ordered all Virginia flags to be lowered to half-staff across the state until sunset on June 8 in memory of the victims killed in the mass shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center, according to the Virginia Capitol Police.

Northam tweeted the names of the 12 victims Saturday morning saying they "will never be forgotten."

In his first public comments on the shooting Saturday, President Donald Trump said he had called Northam and Virginia Beach's mayor and vice mayor to offer condolences.

"The Federal Government is there, and will be, for whatever they may need. God bless the families and all!" Trump said in a tweet.

Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer said those impacted by the shooting are "our friends, co-workers, neighbors, colleagues."

"This is the most devastating day in the history of Virginia Beach," Dyer said.

The city will help them go through the healing process, he said.

"We're going to move forward as a city, as a community. We're going to be there for the families," the mayor said. "The people that were victims of this tragic event, they were family members, they were co-workers, they were a vital part of the community of Virginia Beach, and they will not be forgotten."

Victims were city employees 

All but one of the 12 people killed in Friday afternoon's shooting were employees of the city of Virginia Beach, City Manager Dave Hansen said at a news conference Saturday morning.

One was a contractor trying to fill a permit, Hansen said.

"They leave a void that we will never be able to fill," Hansen said.

Virginia Beach Municipal Center Shooting Victims:

  • Laquita C. Brown of Chesapeake, a right-of-way agent who worked 4½ years for Virginia Beach's public works department.
  • Tara Welch Gallagher of Virginia Beach, an engineer who worked six years for the city's public works department.
  • Mary Louise Gayle of Virginia Beach, a right-of-way agent who worked 24 years for the city's public works department.
  • Alexander Mikhail Gusev of Virginia Beach, a right-of-way agent who worked nine years for the public works department.
  • Katherine A. Nixon of Virginia Beach, an engineer who worked 10 years for the city's public utilities department.
  • Richard H. Nettleton of Norfolk, an engineer who worked 28 years for Virginia Beach's public utilities department.
  • Christopher Kelly Rapp of Powhatan, an engineer who worked 11 months in Virginia Beach's public works department.
  • Ryan Keith Cox of Virginia Beach, an account clerk who worked 12½ years in the public utilities department.
  • Joshua A. Hardy of Virginia Beach, an engineering technician who worked 4½ years in the public utilities department.
  • Michelle "Missy" Langer of Virginia Beach, an administrative assistant who worked 12 years in the public utilities department.
  • Robert "Bobby" Williams of Chesapeake, a special projects coordinator who worked 41 years in Virginia Beach's public utilities department.
  • Herbert "Bert" Snelling, a contractor who was trying to fill a permit.

Depend on WTVR.com and CBS 6 News for complete coverage of this developing story. Check back with WTVR.com and watch CBS 6 News for updates. 

The CNN Wire contributed to this report.

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