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'Let us rebuild' | Virginia Beach works to heal, 3 years after mass shooting

Three years after the May 31 shooting, Virginia Beach community leaders are trying to open more doors for healing and remembrance.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Three years after the May 31 shooting, the City of Virginia Beach and community leaders are trying to open more doors for healing and remembrance.

That day was the darkest in the city’s history.

“One phone call your life, can change your life,” said Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer.

May 31, 2019, is the day a gunman took the lives of 12 people and impacted countless others.

“The first names I remember hearing were Rich, Mary Lou and Tara,” said former city employee Tara Reel. “And I just kept saying were they taken to the hospital? And they were like no. We lost them.”

Reel called many of the victims' families. She said she worked with them and said she visited Building 2 earlier that day but didn’t have time to say hello.

“We lost part of the heart of our city that day and it was with them,” Reel said.

Now, three years later, she’s on the city’s memorial committee, helping to find a permanent place to remember those lost, like her former boss Richard Nettleton.

“One of the things he said to me that stuck with me, is he said, ‘I am so excited to see what you end up building in this city,’ And I told people I didn’t expect it to be this,” Reel said.

Committee members scouted several locations for the memorial, and they are also asking for input.

“I think what is shaping up in the memorial, I think it is going to be really special,” Reel said.

Flowers in front of Building 2 mark the tragedy that happened inside, but the structure itself is under construction.

“There was a lot of conversation about tearing the building down and from my perspective, we don’t give in to evil,” Mayor Dyer said. “Let us rebuild.”

Crews are transforming it into the Virginia Beach Police Headquarters. Officials said the inside will look nothing like it did on May 31.

Mayor Dyer said he is also grateful that folks can come together in person this year to reflect at Mount Trashmore.

“To get proper grieving, you have to embrace people,” Dyer said. “You have to understand that people are truly with you.”

But, no matter how much healing is done, Dyer said nothing will change what we lost.

“Always remember that part of us will always be the people that were victims of May 31, 2019,” he said.

Reel said not visiting with her friends in Building 2 on that tragic day still weighs on her.

“I try to be mindful and not be in a hurry, because you don’t know, you just don’t know,” Reel said.

She encourages other people to take a moment for that quick hello or hug.

“I take a lot more photos with people because there are some folks that I wish I had those mementos of them,” Reel said.

Virginia Beach Memorial Committee Leaders have extended the deadline to provide input on where the May 31 memorial should be. You now have until June 5 to participate.

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