Waiting to hear from police in Virginia Beach. That will happen any minute now. Well bring you that News Conference as it begins. But lets set the stage for you at this hour and just remind you how we got here. Everything happening in the building that is just behind me, just about 24 hours ago. This was as the work week was wrapping up. A friday afternoon at 4 00, employees getting ready to start their weekend. Witnesses say the shooter walked through all three floors of that building killing and wounding people. City leaders, understandably, still very much in shock. Lives of 12 people were cut short by a senseless incomprehensible act of violence. I have worked with most of them for many years. We want you to know who they were. So in the days and weeks to come, you will learn what they meant to all of us. To their families. To their friends. And to their coworkers. They leave a void that we will never be able to fill. The city manager, as you heard, wants the nation to know the people whose lives were taken who died in this massacre. We will share those names with you. We will repeat four. Those are the ones well repeat four. And laquita brown, here 4 1 2 years. Tara welch gallagher, an engineer, employed by the city for the past six years. Mary louise gayle was a rightofway agent who worked in the department for 24 years, Alexander Mikhail gusev, a public works employee for the last nine years. Katherine a. Nixon, also an engineer, with the city for the last decade. Richard nettleton was a municipal employee for 28 years. Christopher kelly rapp, an engineer who wouldnted the Public Works Department just 11 months ago. Ryan keith cox an account clerk for more than a dozen years. And joshua hardy who was an Engineering Technician for the city of Virginia Beach. Michelle langer who was known as missy spent the half 12 years working for the city. And Bobby Williams who worked for the city for 41 years. Those are the 11 public employees. Bert snelling was also killed on friday. A contractor, he was in the building to get a permit. President trump sending a message to this grieving community earlier in a tweet which reads spoke to Virginia Governor northam and mayor and vice mayor of Virginia Beach. To offer condolences to that great community. The federal government is there and will be for whatever they may need. Workers were found trying to hide in their offices. We were terrified. It almost felt like it wasnt real. That we were in a dream. You hear this all the time in the news you that dont think its ever going to happen to you. Then when it actually happens, its almost like an out of body experience. Youve just terrified because all you can hear are the gunshots. We heard it downstairs. And we go to the corridor there was a lady on the stairs, unconscious. Blood all over the stairway, we didnt even know what happened. When they went upstairs, she came back out saying get out of the building, somebody has been shot. At that point, we all left. We heard shooting. We heard shooting, but we didnt think it was that close, that close like in proximity of the building. I just thank god that they were able to alert us in time. Because if it had been ten minutes more, we all would have been outside. So, thats what im grateful for today. Cnn correspondents brian todd, shimon and Miguel Marquez is here. Brian, i want to begin with you, what have we heard from police at this hour. Any word what the motive may have been . Asked about motive and police have not been saying very much about that. What they have talked about is the weapons that were found at the scene and the shooters apartment. There have been additional weapons discover ted scene and the shooters apartment. We hope to learn more about that. But motive is the key question. Weve been pressing them hard on this, weve been told by sources that he was a disgruntled employee. But weve been pressuring officials here whether they targeted anyone specifically. Police have said he was firing indiscriminately, but the question is was he targeting anyone. And any workplace conflicts, did he make any threats. Weve pressed officials on those as well. Theyre not talking about it yet, either they dont know yet or just dont want to talk about them, seray ar erica. Miguel, you were at the hospital. What do we know about the four people that are wounded . Yeah, four in total. One of them is just out of the operating room. Another one that was injured much more badly went in the operating room last night. They may go in this afternoon and then possibly again next week. Theres a third person at sentara a press conference right now. Well, good afternoon. First, id like to thank the press and the media for being here and doing the work that youre doing and letting the people across virginia and this country know of the efforts, as we deal with this horrific tladdtla tragedy. Id also like to thank all of the men and women who have stepped forward and been part of this effort as we move forward in healing virginia. They are, no doubt, dedicated professional and compassionate. And for that, i say, thank you. To mayor dyer, who leads this city, to the city manager, dave hansen, our chief of police cervera, thank you for your leadership, as well as elected officials here at this difficult time here in Virginia Beach. We continue to focus on these families, on the victims, as we said yesterday, these are 12 individuals who came to work in the city of Virginia Beach thinking that they would go home in the evening. And they didnt return and has left a tremendous void in our families and in our community. Ive had the opportunity along with some other elected officials to visit our local hospitals. I am a doctor. I served in desert storm. I have been in situations such as this. And it was important for me to go to our hospitals and thank the doctors and nurses and staff. And i can also let you know i had the opportunity to speak with some of the families. They send their thanks for the heroic deeds that were performed yesterday. And i want to assure you that they are all being well cared for in our local hospitals. I want to also thank the outpouring of support and love that has come not only in Hampton Roads in virginia, but of course this country. And it is just so, so important, as we continue in this healing process. So, id ask all of you that are viewing this today to continue to please lift up Virginia Beach. Continue to lift up these victims and their families, as we continue this healing process which will go on, not for days, but months and years so, thank you. I will turn this over to our mayor of Virginia Beach, mayor bobby dyer. Mayor. Thank you, governor. Its been about 23 hours since this horror was imposed upon the city of Virginia Beach. And let me just say this, we will not be defined by this horror. We will go forward. We are a city of resiliency and resolve. The true character of our city is going to rest with our public, our citizens and our neighbors. That we share borders with. The governor just mentioned there was an outpouring of love, empathy, and willingness to help. There is no doubt, question or reservation. Let me just say this, and i will be brief. Theres one thing that is most evident that has come about. We in Virginia Beach are a city of heroes. We have heroes with our military. We have many member of our public that help and save lives. But most of all, let me commend the officers, the people that ran into a building with active shooter, shooting. 45caliber bullets and saved many people. Without doubt, question or reservation, Virginia Beach is a city of heroes. And the strength of Virginia Beach are the people of virginia. And theres no doubt that Going Forward that we will define ourselves as the city with love and compassion for those neighbors that we lost. And their families. And were not going to just do this over the next couple of weeks. This is going to be a longterm thing. This is Virginia Beach. Thank you. And at this point, id like to bring up chief cervera. From the police end, we do not have a lot of Additional Information to give at this time other than the fbi, the federal bureau of investigation has taken over the evidence recovery portion of this. The eit has responded. Theyve come as a group of 40 individuals assisting the city of Virginia Beach. Its a timeconsuming, meticulous process. It is not what you see on tv. Its not what will you see on the movies, its a timeconsuming process, and they have taken that assignment on magnificently. Theyre doing an absolutely fantastic job inside of the building. Our forensic evidence techs are also inside the building and will be there for quite some time. We have that. The other thing, as the manager said earlier, we will have members of the Virginia Beach honor guard and Fire DepartmentHonor Guard Teams assigned to the families. We want to make sure that they have liaisons for just about everything they need at this point. And we want everyone, we want the family members and the friends to know were behind them 100 . That this isnt just something thats going to happen and suddenly, were going back to business. At this time, id like to call the Regional Special agent in charge of the atf to come forward and give us a few words on where we are with the weapons that have been recovered and the evidence that they are attempting to obtain from those weapons. Thank you, chief. Good afternoon. On behalf of the men and women of the atf, our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and families. Working the Virginia BeachPolice Department, state police and partners with the fbi, we identified two weapons used in the shooting yesterday. Both weapons are. 45caliber pistols. One was purchased in 2016, one was purchased in 2018. Both pistols were purchased by the shooter and all indications are they were purchased legally. The police assisted at the shooters residence. Two other firearms were recovered from that location. One of the two thats been identified, of the one thats been identified, also legally purchased by the shooter. At this time, were also looking at our Law Enforcement partners to look at the ballistics from the weapons discharged and also the ballistic network of nieven to make sure to see if they correspond with any other shooting. Thank you. The only final bit of information i can give at this time theres been some questions concerning the time line, how long did the shootout occur. What was the time line that the officers first arrived on the scene. Well put all of that together. We do want to interview officers to get specifics. The computer time line is one specific piece of evidence but were interviewing officers to get that specific information. Again, i want you to understand in a situation subpoena as this, these officers need a little time to deal compress before we begin to ask them about this horrendous crime scene and the shootout with the suspect. So, ill have more information on that tomorrow. Julie. Im julie hill, im the Communications Director for the city. Ive been here four years. And in that four years, i can tell you that this is an incident that speaks to really the heart and soul of this city that ive come to call home but make no mistake, we are a heartbroken city because we have lost 12 people who did not nothing more than come to work yesterday. And expect to go home, and they were not able. Were just about a day into this event. And so, weve got a lot of plans to make. We have 12 funerals to help these families plan. And thats the work that were about to get under way starting today. Were meeting with the families. Were folk coveracusing on the t were going to be taking for memorials. This community has begun to stem up in that regard. In addition to a Memorial Service for thursday evening that everyone is invited to attend at rock creek church, well have more information on that, were hearing about other vigils that are being planned for the community. Some starting today. Tail be taking place over the course of the week. So if anybody does have incidents or events and vigils that theyd like us to include in our lifting news at vb vbgov. It will be at rock church at 640 kensle road here in Virginia Beach. And it is open to the public and we encourage anyone who wants to share in that to be able to attend. One of the most important responsibilities i have today is to make a correction to the name of an individual. We mistook the middle initial for joshua hardy. We put it as an a. It should be an o. I want to make sure that is corrected. If you pull the file down from the website, you now have that corrected information. There are a lot of people who have wanted to drop by memorials and flowers and candles. And there is a designated area for us to receive those. And thats at the flag right outside of the right in front of the Public Safety, the Police Department, which is on princess ann road, building 11. Its to the left of the flag pole. There is the flag right there, and thats where were going to hope that people will be able to gather and share those mementos. And finally, the amount of support that weve received is incredible. Were immensely grateful for the support that weve received. We hope that youll continue to extend that our families and the rest of the employees. You want to know more, ive been hearing from you that you want to know more about each of the individuals. I think, as we are able to work with the families, thats going to become easier as the days go by. If youll just give us a little bit of time. I think youll find an awful lot of people who want to tell you everything about these people you that want to know. What questions do you have . [ inaudible question ]. Im sorry . [ inaudible question ]. Theres not much change on them from earlier. Three critical and one in fair condition. Hes been treated and released. You might remember that the chief had indicated that it was vest that saved him yesterday. [ inaudible question ] he was indeed fired could we please get a clarification . Can you please know a federal Law Enforcement agency gave you that information . I can just tell you my source is a federal Law Enforcement agency. You can correct your source. Thats not correct. Thats not correct, he was not fired . Yes, sir, hes not been fired. Im sorry . Where [ inaudible question ] . Approximately, well, i dont know exactly what time he entered the building and the time he got the first call for service. Shortly after 4 00 p. M. Again, one moment, i will have the exact time line as to when the first call came out. I can tell you that the call was dispatched within a timely fashion. And that the first officers arrived within minutes. And i will give you the exact moment when we engaged at the suspect after that. Hold it excuse me. Yes, maam . [ inaudible question ]. Did he go to work . I dont have that information. We will get that at a later time. Do you have any information on possible motive . We have interviewed coworkers and im not at liberty to discuss what their information was. We have a question over here, sir. A question for the governor, considering now that theres an open question on motive. Considering the motive is unclear right now, what do you say to Government Employees if theyre unsure theyll be safe . Well, you know, this was a horrific tragedy. Right now, we want to let everyone know that they are safe. There are accommodations being made to continue our Government Services here in the city of Virginia Beach. But until we gather more information, theres really not a whole lot more to say. But they are safe at this time. Can we get the name of the atf official who spoke . Ashan. Special agent in charge. With members of the community who want to do something, what do you guys need today . Members of our community, citizens who work for our city need their support. When i say need support. Thats a very nebulous thing to say. To come to the vigil, show up at the vigil. For our Police Officers, this is an absolute horrific event of unbelievable proportions. But, you know, Police Officers go to work every day, and they do things not at this level, but they do things sometimes with an amount of intensity every day. Police officers put themselves in harms way every day for people theyve never met. People they have no connection to. And for people they will never see again. So, to the cities of our city, i would like to see the support for the Police Officers. Remember, as i talked earlier today, we trained recently. On such an incident as this with our fire and ems representatives. Give them the support they also need. Nobody gets in a Public Service and Public Safety for pay and benefits. They get into it for the Intrinsic Value of what they give back to their community. Pharrell williams recently said, lets show the young people we have their back. Lets is the time we need to say to our cop, we have your back. Chief, the shooter appeared to be shooting indiscriminately. Anyone going to work with this gentleman every day, can you reconcile that . Were working through that. What i mean by indiscriminately, as he came upon someone, thats when he took action. So, were working through the actual time line and the actual event. What event to