FBI: Virginia Beach mass shooter fixated on ‘perceived workplace grievances’ for years

The FBI provided their final briefing on the Virginia Beach, Va., mass shooter on Wednesday, saying the 2019 attack that left 12 people dead was done partially due to “workplace grievances.”

“BAU assesses the shooter was motivated by perceived workplace grievances, which he fixated on for years,” the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit said in a press release.

DeWayne Craddock, who was an employee of Virginia Beach Municipal Center, open fire in the facility on May 31, 2019, before dying himself during a police shootout. 

“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 press release said.

“Violence was viewed by the shooter as a way to reconcile this conflict and restore his perverted view of justice,” it added.

Craddock’s grievances could have gone as far back as 2014 but the FBI determined “no individual or group was in a position to see the confluence of behaviors that may have forewarned the attack” due to the shooter isolating himself.

“It is important to note that only the shooter knew the real reason why he committed this horrific act of violence; however, at this time, the FBI is confident, based on evidence collected, that the above assessment is accurate,” the statement concluded.

The FBI’s analysis comes three months after Virginia Beach authorities said they could not determine a motive for the shooter, The Associated Press reported.

Virginia Beach Mayor Robert Dyer said Wednesday after the FBI press release that “no matter how much information we have about some situations, it may never be enough to really explain what happened and why … we have seen the worst evil one person can do, and the very best of what a community can do when people come together.”