Twelve people were killed and several others were injured in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Friday when a gunman opened fire at a municipal centre, police said.
According to Virginia Beach Police Chief James Cervera, a veteran employee of the Public Utilities Department, entered the municipal centre and "immediately began to indiscriminately fire upon all of the victims".
The identities of the victims were not immediately released nor was the motive of the attack. One of those injured was a police officer, who was saved by his bulletproof vest, said Chief James A. Cervera of the Virginia Beach Police Department, who said at an evening news conference that the scene could "best be described as a war zone."
Bodies were found on all three floors of the building, the chief said. One of the deceased was discovered outside in a car.
Chief Cervera said the gunman, whom he declined to name, was carrying a .45-caliber handgun, with several extended magazines.
The gunman was wounded after an exchange of fire with the police, who later issued first aid on him. But he succumbed to his injuries.
