We do know that shortly after 4 00 p. M. This afternoon, the suspect entered building 2. Hes a longtime employee of public utilities. I will not release his name at this time. And he immediately began to indiscriminately fire upon all the victims. Officers entered. Once the call went out, the officers were at headquarters. They responded to building 2. They secured as much of the victims as they could and then they engaged with the suspect. The suspect did shoot a Police Officer. Officers returned fire. The suspect is deceased. Again, the suspect is dead. The Police Officer that he fired upon is not, he is injured. Here with me now nbc news justice correspondent Pete Williams whos been reporting on this tragedy. What do we know, pete . So the police say these intended victims were City Employees killed by this man who walked into their workplace and began opening fire on his fellow workers, people that he knew. Six others were hurt. They were taken and rushed to nearby hospitals where they are tonight. So we have six injured. Is it 11 dead, including the shooter or 12 dead including the shooter . Well, that what the police are saying is 11 people dead. Its not clear whether theyre counting the gunman in that 11. But heres more on what happened today, chris. Just before 4 30 p. M. Police in Virginia Beach got the first urgent reports, gun fire at a city Office Building. Shots fired, shots fired. Witnesses said a man was firing at the public works building next to city hall, part of a sprawling downtown City Government complex. Shooter on the second floor. Detectives coming in through the garage sally port. As First Responders flooded in and City Employees ran out, police stormed the building and found what they said was a single gunman who was subdued and taken into custody. Air ambulances were on the scene. At least six people were rushed to local hospitals. One man who was inside saw a shooting victim on a flight of stairs. Who knows. We dont know if she was on the stairway coming up or going down, but she was on the stairway. City workers in nearby buildings were told to stay away. We heard shooting but we didnt think it was that close like in proximity of the building. As police went room to room to make certain it was over, city workers waited for word on their fellow employees, still in shock at a deadly turn to the final hour of the workweek. Now, chris, you noted that one of the shooting victims was a Police Officer and they say that his life was spared by his bulletproof vest. They say the officers were on the scene almost immediately, which is what youd expect in a complex of city Office Buildings. Theyre not saying anything tonight about the motive of the gunman, the one killed in the shootout with police or what kind of weapon he was carrying, how heavily armed he was, what kind of ammunition he had, and theres no word on those taken to the hospital, presumably all with gunshot wounds. The mayor is calling this the most devastating day in the history of Virginia Beach, chris. This is also, so people are clear here, weve had some workplace shootings in which someone recently fired or let go, an exworker coming back with some twisted motivation of violent revenge. This person as far as we know from what the police have told us was wa coworker, had not ben fired and was working in this facility. Thats what the police chief said but frankly weve heard contradictory things about whether he was let go just yesterday. Theyre going to have another News Conference here in about an hour and a half and perhaps theyll have more to say about that. Youre right. What the police chief said was he was asked specifically is this a current or former employee and he said current. But that was early on. He had many things on his mind. They may have more on that later. Somewhat remarkable how quickly both First Responders were able to mobilize the Police Officers who made it to the scene because of their proximity and the level of fatalities and casualties, putting those together. Its pretty horrifying to contemplate. Well, the police chief was asked how long do you think he was able to fire on his fellow employees before the police got there and theyre not certain about that. Thats going to be part of their investigation. Theyll be obviously looking into the background of this man who they know well, who other people know well. Theyll look at the circumstances of that. Forensically theyll be a long time trying to work through the trajectory of where the weapons were fired, how long it took. Theyll listen to the police radios, listen to the 911 calls, talk to witnesses and be helped by the fbi and the atf. Pete williams, thank you so much for your reporting. Sure. We have some testimony from witnesses who were in the facility who saw what happened during the shooting that happened this afternoon in Virginia Beach, 11 dead, six hospitalized. Take a listen. Yelling and screaming, trying to get everybody safe, and some gunshots. And when you heard the gunshots, what did you hear . We just heard people yelling and screaming to get down. I was on the phone with 911 so i was trying to concentrate on getting talking to them. We heard shooting, but we didnt think it was that close, like in proximity of the building. So 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. Joining me on the phone is jim cavanaugh, retired atf special agent in charge and former hostage negotiator. Jim, obviously just a tremendously horrific situation. It calls to mind the fact that we have seen obviously a lot of Mass Shootings in america. It has become grimly, perversely, barbarically routine in the news cycle. But school shootings, ideologically shootings get more attention than workplace shootings even though theyre the most common form of this mass violence. Thats right. Theres workplace shootings, they happen all the time and can happen anywhere. Building managers and leaders and these businesses, they need to try to take some steps to secure people coming in without a firearm. But i think in this case its likely going to be indications that this guy was having trouble, was upset, having trouble with coworkers or supervisors or somehow disgruntled. There was something going on in his life that people that he worked with knew and his family would have known. Those indicators are the things that you want to try to pick up on early before you get this devastating day where the guy comes in and we dont know how many guns or what guns he has but just starts shooting innocent people at their desks. The only way to stop it is to try to get him before. The Virginia Beach police heroics, they got in and killed the shooter. They absolutely stopped more killing. As many rounds as he had left, chris, he could have gone on killing. So the police really did a Quick Response and stopped more mass killing. You know what i think of as were watching these images of the facility which appears to be a municipal campus, there were sort of a variety of connected buildings with Municipal Workers of various types. You know, in the wake of this we will see a hardening of that building. The security will get more intense. Weve seen that in building after building. Schools, Office Buildings. I remember after 9 11 there was a hardening of that. But its getting to the point where the response to this is just a kind of fortressing up of every conceivable target, soft target, Office Building in america where you almost feel like youre moving from barracks to barracks because we cannot get a handle on the fact that americans can just go acquire weapons and go shoot up people at a moments notice. Well, youre exactly right, unfortunately. Were in america now where this has gone beyond the ability of the citizens to fix unless the leaders at the top in washington and every State Capitol will take the steps to stop it. That is better gun laws, Better Mental Health laws, and laws that allow you to have enter vep intervention if the person is suffering from mental stress or Mental Health. We shouldnt stigmatize people with mental or emotional issues, but 30 of the time it plays a part in these killings. So its something to Pay Attention to without stigmatizing everyone that needs care. But we are looking at people that are prone to violence. I always think of it this way. This is just an old policeman and agents way to look at it. I call it the tragedy triangle. It starts with the emotional part, it could be mental or suicidal. The next is some interaction with the police over something or some conflict in their life. Thats the second point of the triangle. The third point is the acquisition of firearms. When you see those three things, i call it the tragedy triangle because when those three things happen, death follows. You can go back and back on all these shootings and look and you can see lets take the parkland shooter. Everybody knew this guy was having trouble, everybody knew. He had conflicts with the School Resource officer. Then hes out getting guns. People knew about it. All three of those indicators of what i call the tragedy triangle were there before the parkland shooting and many other shootings. So weve got to look for those things, read those things as citizens, as Police Officers, as agents, as Mental Health professionals and see if we can make some step to interrupt it and stop it. That could be done. And many are interrupted, chris. Listen, i can tell you in my career we interrupted many killings and shootings in the atf. Many, many, many. We stop them on the way, chapter and verse. Many are interrupted. The police interrupt them every day, theyre just not major news. What were into now a situation in america where the voter has to change. The voter has to change this because the political leaders, they dont have the backbone. They have no backbone to change it. So it takes the voter. So the voter can change it. So is this the america we want to live in or do we want to change it . We can do better. We cant eliminate them all, but we can reduce these and reduce these so theyre not so common. That would be really a good thing. Yeah, there is no other comparable event in developed democracy that has this kind of phenomenon with the regularity america does. Theres nothing remotely similar and theres nothing that has the number of guns in the possession of its citizens the way america does. Jim cavanaugh, thank you for sharing your expertise amidst this tragedy. I really appreciate it. I want to turn to Shannon Watts who is the founder of moms demand action for gun sense in america. She joins me by phone. Your thoughts as youre watching this unfold yet again . Its just incredibly tragic that yet again in america, a community is devastated by gun violence. Senseless, preventible gun violence. It appears to be in a workplace. We know that every highincome country is home to people who are unstable or disgruntled. And yet only america gives them easy access to arsenals and ammunition. Im torn as a journalist and broadcaster here. Were watching this unfold. We have very scant details. We dont know the background of the shooter. People have died, the shooter has died, there are people in the hospital that our thoughts are with at this moment and the Health Care Providers trying to help them come through. We dont know the acquisition of the gun, whether it was legally or illegally purchased. Theres a difference, i suppose, in what the policy ramifications are. Do you think it matters ultimately whether this gun was legally or illegally acquired in what youre advocating for and the kind of vision of policy that you have . Again, we dont know all the details yet. But in virginia its incredibly easy to get a gun without a background check at a gun show or arranging an online, inperson sale. That is the problem in america. Only 20 states require a background check on every gun sale. We make it incredibly easy for dangerous people to have access to guns. These tragedies that we see play out over and over again are absolutely preventible and senseless if our lawmakers would act. It seems worth noting amidst this conversation as we have people here joining us and breaking news with the news that 11 people are dead in Virginia Beach and another mass shooting. This one apparently workplace violence, six hospitalized right now. The vast majority of gun deaths in america do not happen in this fashion. They do not happen as Mass Shootings, whether its like in las vegas where i was firsthand in the aftermath of that or parkland. The vast majority are people that know each other or are acts of suicide. Do you think that matters as well in terms of the policy solution and the conversation we have about the kind of country we have . We have to keep our eyes focused on that these are actually the anomalies . I think thats a very important point. The gun violence in this country, gun homicides or gun suicides in rural communities. But when you look at the fact that 100 people are shot and killed in this country every single day and you divide that by four, which is the fbi definition of what a mass shooting is, four victims not including the shooter. There are dozens of Mass Shootings every single day in this country. But again, it really hits home when a tragedy like this and 11 people are killed in a work place and six injured. Its just devastating. Do you worry about the ways in which the aftermath of this can go . Weve seen in florida a push to put more guns into spaces in which children are, more guns in the hands of teachers, guns as a solution to guns. I want to be clear that we are winning on this issue. The nra is weaker than they have ever been. The Gun Violence Prevention Movement is stronger than its ever been. Last year we passed laws in 20 states, nine of which were signed by republican senators. That is why its so important for americans, the vast majority of whom support stronger gun laws to make their voices heard in the aftermath of tragedies like this. People always come out of the woodwork and say dont politicize a tragedy. This is political. Were the only country in the world that has gun lobbyists writing our countrys gun laws. The best time and most important time to talk about gun violence is in the aftermath of a shooting tragedy. Shannon watts has a new book out as well, thank you so much for taking the time tonight. Thank you. We will returning to the mass shooting coverage in Virginia Beach. A lot more to get to. Stay with us. Ith us but allstate actually helps you drive safely. With drivewise. It lets you know when you go too fast. And brake too hard. With feedback to help you drive safer. Giving you the power to actually lower your cost. Unfortunately, it cant do anything about that. Now that you know the truth. Are you in good hands . You get more than yourFree Shipping. Ir, you get everything you need for your home at a great price, the way it works best for you, ill take that. Wait honey, no. When you want it. You get a delivery experience you can always count on. You get your perfect find at a price to match, on your own schedule. You get fast and Free Shipping on the things that make your home feel like you. Thats what you get when youve got wayfair. So shop now glad youre back how you feeling . both exhausted. But finally being able to make that volunteer trip happen was. Awesome. Awesome. You have to scrub. What do they. They use for washing. Lets do it every year. Well do it every year. I thought youd say that lets do it. See how investing with a j. P. Morgan advisor can help you. Visit your local chase branch. We are of course continuing to monitor the breaking news out of Virginia Beach where 11 are dead and six in the hospital. The shooter has lost his life as well. We dont have many details other than a coworker appears to have entered a Virginia Beach municipal facility and begin firing. Police were there fairly quickly but 11 people dead, six hospitalized tonight in the latest mass shooting here in this country. Im joined by the chairman of the House Homeland Security committee, congressman Bennie Thompson, a democrat from mississippi. Let me start on this topic first, sir, if thats okay. The democrats have passed two pieces of gun control legislation out of the house in the first few months that they had control. Whats your reaction watching this unfold in virginia tonight . Well, chris, first of all, as you know, all of us have a deep sympathy for the families and those individuals impacted. But on a more note, the access to guns, the continued easy access to guns is a problem in this country. The fact that people with certain illnesses, Mental Illnesses can still get guns. Background checks are not enforced in certain areas. Obviously individuals who have Mental Illnesses can get guns. But on the other hand we dont as a country provide the services for those individuals who have mental illness. And that is a challenge for us. And i think Something Congress is going to have to step forward to and address. Theres two pieces of legislation that have come out of the house on background checks. One closing some of the loopholes, the other extending the time in which those background checks can be processed. Do you