Virginia Beach mass shooting remembrance event planned at Mount Trashmore

VIRGINIA BEACH — A disgruntled city engineer killed 12 people and injured five others at a municipal center building three years ago, sending shockwaves through the city that can still be felt.

A remembrance ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Mount Trashmore. Limited seating will be available, and guests are encouraged to bring chairs.

It will be the first in-person memorial service for the mass shooting since the pandemic. City Manager Patrick Duhaney will read the names of the victims at the ceremony.

“We know that some people grieve and heal very privately and others benefit from having people surrounding them physically,” city spokeswoman Tiffany Russell said. “We’re really looking forward to a beautiful event Tuesday.”

Virginia Beach began other memorial activities earlier this month, including painting a forget-me-not flower, which honors the lives lost and those who were injured, on the front façade of the Mount Trashmore hill, below the city seal.

Three city buildings — Building 30, the Virginia Beach Convention Center and Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center — have been illuminated at night in blue, the color of remembrance.

The city plans other observances Tuesday, including wearing blue and pausing for a moment of silence at 4:06 p.m., the time that the first 911 call came in.

The city departments previously located in Building 2, where the mass shooting took place, will close at 3 p.m., including planning, public utilities, public works and information technology.

Virginia state flags will be flown at half staff on Tuesday.

For more information, visit LoveForVB.com.

Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com