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International, local tattoo artists come together to help Virginia Beach mass shooting victims heal

Many people in the community are healing after the mass shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center. Now, tattoo artists are coming in to transform the scars.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Starting on Saturday, December 7, fourteen local and international tattoo artists are coming together, to volunteer their time and resources, to help victims of the Virginia Beach mass shooting heal.

Twelve people died, and four others were injured inside the Virginia Beach Municipal Center on May 31, 2019.

Over the weekend, twenty-nine survivors, victim’s family members and first responders from the shooting will find beauty and healing in the form of tattoos.

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The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater reached out to the non-profit Healing Ink International, to come out and volunteer their time and talent.

“We never thought that Virginia Beach would be a community trying to recover from a tragedy such as this,” said Betty Ann Levin, the federation’s CEO.

She believes the ink means victims will have a moment where it’s “taking something so tragic and turning it into something beautiful,”

Those receiving tattoos include a victim who survived being shot in the face, and a granddaughter and grandmother bonded by the loss of the father.

Survivors will get their tattoos on Saturday, December 7 at Virginia Beach Police Headquarters, and Sunday at the MOCA Art Museum.

The faith group connected the tattoo artist to the community.

“In times of tragedy, we’re there for each other. So, this is a way that we could help,” Levin said.

Craig Dershowitz is the CEO of Artist4 Israel’s Healing Ink project.

He said the Israeli tattoo artists from Healing Ink International are skilled in covering injuries from terrorism and combat with art.

“A tattoo is something that’s life-affirming, and something where you’re making a choice,” said Dershowitz. “So, people who have been kind of robbed of choices here and put into some terrible situations, and now they’re getting the power back.”

Dershowitz said it’s a way to help humanize what happened in the community and help people heal and remember.

“This isn’t just another shooting. This is something that happened to individuals, to real people, and make us remember the humanity of it all," said Dershowitz.

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