Today I grieve for Virginia Beach, a great city in our district where America's most devastating mass shooting of the year happened last Friday. That morning, 12 innocent people left their homes for work. But they didn’t return home to their families, and they never will.pic.twitter.com/4T7j0eIXn8
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Mary Louise Gayle was a right-of-way agent who lived in Virginia Beach. A proud grandmother, she had just turned 65, and her children planned to take their mom to Portland later this month to celebrate her birthday.pic.twitter.com/gUaNhURSjJ
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Alexander Mikhail Gusev, a right-of-way agent who lived in Virginia Beach, moved from Belarus to seek a better life in America. He was a generous and thoughtful person who was said to grab his lawnmower and cut his neighbor’s lawn without even being asked.pic.twitter.com/hFYiA0y4mX
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Joshua O. Hardy, an engineering technician who lived in Virginia Beach, was a loving uncle. A healthy eater and runner, he smiled on the job and found time to write a beloved children’s book that spoke to youth about “strangers in their midst.”pic.twitter.com/ZjKFlyxhMc
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Michelle “Missy” Langer, an administrative assistant who lived in Virginia Beach, loved the Pittsburgh Steelers, Paul McCartney, and the ocean. A friend said: “I will miss her smile and her hugs. That’s the hardest thing.”pic.twitter.com/uBl6QopXbz
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Richard H. Nettleton, an engineer who lived in Norfolk, helped design, install, and maintain Virginia Beach’s water and sewer systems. An Army veteran, he enjoyed mentoring young engineers.pic.twitter.com/0yQulYGD8r
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Katherine A. Nixon, an engineer who lived in Virginia Beach, was a devoted wife and mother to three daughters, one of whom is just 15 months old. According to her neighbor, her final call was to her husband, just moments after she was shot.pic.twitter.com/Kd6an85Rc1
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Christopher Kelly Rapp, an engineer who lived in Powhatan, played the bagpipes and loved Scottish music. Compared by some to Mr. Rogers, he was known as encouraging and enthusiastic.pic.twitter.com/RCkTVJwtK8
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Herbert “Bert” Snelling, a contractor who lived in Virginia Beach and was visiting the Municipal Center for a permit, led his church’s security team. In his work, he did everything from small handyman repair to building homes.pic.twitter.com/v8MvkRkJIK
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Robert “Bobby” Williams, a special projects coordinator who lived in Chesapeake, worked for Virginia Beach for 41 years. He helped build the sea wall in our city and planned on retiring this year to spend more time with his family.pic.twitter.com/Fj0UIi7LkG
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The losses here will never be replaced. But so many heroes emerged to prevent further horror.
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Over the weekend, I saw heroic first responders — police, fire, and EMS personnel — who ran into the line of fire to save others before comforting our community in the immediate aftermath of this tragedy.
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As the hours and days go by, we hear tens if not hundreds of stories of the heroism of individuals who helped save lives during this tragic event.
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