NORFOLK, Va. — Old Dominion University broke ground on Friday for a memorial to honor the people killed in the Virginia Beach Municipal Center shooting in May.
Six of the 12 victims who died graduated from or attended Old Dominion University. Several other people were hurt.
The five victims with ODU ties were:
- Tara Welch Gallagher, BS in Civil Engineering 2002, Master of Engineering 2003.
- Alexander Gusev, BS in Civil Engineering, 2016.
- Richard H. Nettleton, BS in Business Administration, 1994.
- Christopher Kelly Rapp, BS in Civil Engineering, 1994.
- Ryan Keith Cox, former student.
- Mary Louise Gayle, former student
The ceremony for the Virginia Beach Monarch Memorial groundbreaking was at Bugg Plaza, between the Batten Arts and Letters Building and Perry Libraries.
Speakers for the event included ODU President John R. Broderick; Jennifer Kennan, president of the ODU Alumni Association; Lisa Smith, rector of the Board of Visitors; Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer; and Michael Brady, assistant vice president of facilities management and construction at ODU.
13News Now's partners at Southside Daily said the ODU’s Alumni Association is sponsoring the memorial.
The memorial is expected to be completed and unveiled in the spring.