Mayor Dobies’ comments on Virginia Beach shooting, city observance
Thank you for being here today, and thank you to John Willis and the other city employees who took it upon themselves to make sure that we did something meaningful today.
Last Friday morning, municipal employees prepared themselves to serve the public as they normally do in the City of Virginia Beach at the Virginia Beach Municipal Building #2.
Much like our city employees here in the City of Jackson, the clerks, office administrators, inspectors, supervisors, administrators, and other workers collaborated and worked together to serve the citizens of Virginia Beach.
The usual smiles and hellos, the ordinary tasks of the moment, and the expectations of a weekend off with family and friends made this an ordinary day for the hundreds of municipal workers quietly going about their daily tasks.
And then, without a moment’s warning, their ordinary day was shattered.
The safety of the building that many of them had served in for years, instantly, became a place where their memories would change forever.
The lives of city employees and one local contractor were shattered on that day. Lives like:
- Laquita C. Brown: A Procurement Analyst who worked 4½ years for Virginia Beach’s public works department.
- Tara Welch Gallagher: An engineer who worked six years for the city’s public works department.
- Mary Louise Crustinger Gayle: A Procurement Analyst who worked 24 years for the city’s public works department.
- Alexander Mikhail Gusev: A Procurement Analyst who worked nine years for the city’s public works department.
- Katherine A. Nixon: An engineer who worked 10 years for the city’s public utilities department.
- Richard H. Nettleton: An engineer who worked 28 years for Virginia Beach’s public utilities department.
- Christopher Kelly Rapp: An engineer who had worked 11 months in Virginia Beach’s public works department.
- Ryan Keith Cox: An account clerk who worked 12½ years in the public utilities department.
- Joshua Hardy: An engineering technician for 4½ years in the city’s public utilities department.
- Michelle ‘Missy’ Langer: An administrative assistant who worked 12 years in the public utilities department.
- Robert ‘Bobby’ Williams: A special projects coordinator who worked 41 years in Virginia Beach’s public utilities department
- Herbert ‘Bert’ Snelling: a local contractor who was trying to complete a permit at the time of the shooting.
Each of the lives that were stolen, touched the lives and hearts of others.
As a City, our hearts break for those that lost their lives, those that were injured, and the families and friends they left behind. Each of us have been touched by this attack on a city facility — a facility like our own.
We are here today to show our support for Virginia Beach. From one city to another. In solidarity.
The Poet, Maya Angelou said: You cannot control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.
Just like other cities that have faced similar turmoil in recent times, no one can control the events that unfold and shatter the lives of those we know and love.
But we can refuse to be defined by these things. We can show support for each other. We can choose love. We can choose to be better ourselves and to make our communities better in doing so.
Right now, the city of Virginia Beach, the families of those taken away and those injured need our support.
The City of Jackson has gathered here today for a moment of silence, and to spread the word about how our city can help their city at this time.
If you would please for one minute, let us bow our heads for a moment of silence.
Thank You.
As Mayor, I know our city administration and public safety professionals are already taking steps to better ensure the safety of our own employees. We’ll explore trainings to not only make sure employees know what to do in such an emergency, but trainings to prevent such emergencies from happening in the first place.
As a city, we will continue to have a conversation about gun violence. Tomorrow is National Gun Violence Awareness Day, and we will be furthering that conversation at the MLK Center at 6:30PM to discuss what intervention programs we can employ in our community to end gun violence.
And finally, as a community, we will continue to keep this issue at the forefront. We will be a community of love. We will be a compassionate community. Our policies and programs will reflect show that. Our words and our actions will reinforce that.
With last weeks tragedy, those words and actions are needed. I encourage you, and those across our community, to join us in supporting the victims and families of the Virginia Beach tragedy.
Please text in capital letters, one word: VABEACH to 41444
Thank you for coming to show your support with the City of Jackson for Virginia Beach during this time of hardship.
