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Virginia Beach — Sheriff Ken Stolle will not be allowed to serve on the state commission created to independently investigate the 2019 Virginia Beach mass shooting.
The Virginian-Pilot reported last week that Stolle had been appointed, at his request, as a commissioner by the Senate Rules Committee.
But the clerk of the Virginia Senate said Stolle should not have been selected for the position because elected officials aren’t allowed to serve on the 21-member board.
Susan Clarke Schaar, the Senate clerk, said the error occurred as a result of an oversight by her staff, which had a long list of appointments to get through and did not notice that the legislation excluded the appointment of elected officials.
Stolle was informed Wednesday evening that he was not eligible to serve and that he would be replaced, Clarke Schaar said. Stolle said he is disappointed, but understood.
“I think the commission is doing important work and I am sorry I can’t be a part of it,” Stolle said. “I hope they don’t go too far in the deep end on tangential issues.”
Last week, Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler, D-Virginia Beach, said Stolle’s appointment was “a clear conflict of interest,” because his office responded to the shooting on May 31, 2019, that ended with 13 deaths, including the gunman, and four people severely wounded. For the investigation to be truly independent, she said, the commission should not include any Virginia Beach law enforcement officers.
Another person with direct ties to Virginia Beach law enforcement has been appointed to the commission. John Bell, a former deputy police chief for the Virginia Beach Police Department who retired in 2016, was appointed by House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn. Bell’s former employer was the primary agency involved in the response and investigation of the mass shooting.
Filler-Corn also appointed Norfolk Circuit Judge Jerrauld Jones, who, like Stolle, is an elected official. Circuit Court judges are elected by the General Assembly.
When asked if Bell’s appointment presented a conflict and whether Jones is allowed to serve, Filler-Corn’s office provided a statement that said they are both eligible.
“The members appointed by the House to the commission are experts and well qualified to provide an independent review of what transpired that day and vetted by counsel to determine their eligibility,” said Kevin O’Holleran, chief of staff. “We are confident they will serve the commission well.”
The state budget that included funding for the review encouraged both law enforcement and judges to sit on the board. However, it said none of the members should be “currently serving in an elected capacity” and “every effort shall be made to ensure appointees don’t have conflicts of interest.”
In an interview last week, Stolle said he asked State Sens. Tommy Norment, R-James City, and Richard L. Saslaw, D-Fairfax, for a seat on the commission because he thought he’d be able to provide information about local law enforcement. He did not view his appointment as a conflict, and he said Convirs-Fowler was “dead wrong.”
In a text message Friday, Convirs-Fowler said she is grateful to the Senate for “getting the appointments right.”
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“Since I carried the mass shooting commission bill, I know better than anyone that Stolle’s appointment was a huge conflict,” Convirs-Fowler wrote. “I was surprised and taken back when I was called ‘dead wrong’ by our sheriff, especially in the context of a commission to investigate a mass shooting.”
The state probe will be the third review into what happened during the mass shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center.
The Virginia Beach Police Department led the criminal investigation and the city hired a consultant to conduct a review. That group released a report last year stating the shooter, a city engineer, had been paranoid. Complaints he had filed showed he thought he was underpaid and that his superiors expected him to perform at a higher standard than others at his pay grade. He also was worried about a mistake he made in the days leading to the shooting. But neither the police nor consultant determined a specific motive.
Convirs-Fowler and Del. Jason Miyares, R-Virginia Beach, pushed legislation last year to create the commission to independently review the tragedy after some of the victim’s families felt the first two reviews left too many unanswered questions. Shooting victims’ families have said the police will not release reports about the death of their loved ones.
Gov. Ralph Northam approved $77,000 in funding for the investigation. At the conclusion of the probe, the group will consider making recommendations to improve laws, polices, procedures, systems and institutions to reduce the risk of mass shootings.
The commission will consist of five members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates; five people appointed by the Senate Rules Committee; and 10 governor appointees. The superintendent of state police will be a non-voting member. The governor has not selected his appointees yet.
Alissa Skelton, 757-995-9043, alissa.skelton@pilotonline.com.