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Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares sent a scathing letter Wednesday to a state commission investigating the 2019 mass shooting in Virginia Beach.
The letter comes days after The Virginian-Pilot published an article Sunday detailing that about half of the commission’s members had left the board amid allegations of dysfunction.
“I have been incredibly disappointed in the way that the Commission has conducted their investigation and review thus far,” he wrote. “I implore you, on behalf of the citizens of Virginia Beach and the Commonwealth of Virginia, to prioritize this Commission’s mission.”
A city employee went on a rampage at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center on May 31, 2019, fatally shooting 12 people before he was killed by police.
In the aftermath, two state legislators — including Miyares, then a Virginia Beach delegate — pushed to create the commission to conduct an independent investigation. But in recent months, half of the commission’s members have resigned amid concerns from some that the group is failing in its mission.
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In his letter, Miyares said meeting attendance was a longstanding problem among many commission members.
Less than half of the members attended the commission’s second meeting on Aug. 4, 2021, he said, and only 10 attended a briefing from the FBI.
Miyares also cited concerns that committed members were facing road blocks.
“When diligent members have sought access to pertinent and necessary information, they have hit resistance from the City of Virginia Beach, as well as fellow Commissioners,” he wrote. “In recent months, the general lack of cooperation from the City of Virginia Beach, and the overall dysfunction of the Commission, has led ten of its twenty-one members to resign.”
Pointing to the recent mass shootings at the University of Virginia and a Cheseapeake Walmart, Miyares urged commission members to treat their task with the “seriousness and respect” it deserved.
“The families that have lost loved ones should expect nothing less,” he wrote.
Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com