On May 31, our community was changed forever. In the days that followed, we worked to process vast ranges of emotion, trying to piece together how this could have happened in our beloved beach town.
As we all struggled to make sense of something so horrific and unexplained, there was an outpouring of support shown by our entire Coastal Virginia community. Buildings across the region were illuminated in blue. The hashtag #VBStrong was displayed prominently—on digital highway signs, painted on rocks, drawn on sandwich boards, printed on T-shirts and bumper stickers.
People flocked to the Municipal Center, to the site where memorials were assembled for each of the 12 victims: Laquita Brown, Tara Gallagher, Mary Gayle, Alexander Gusef, Katherine Nixon, Richard Nettleton, Christopher Rapp, Ryan Keith Cox, Joshua Hardy, Michelle ‘Missy’ Langer, Robert Williams and Herbert Snelling. Loved ones and strangers placed flowers, stuffed animals, notes of encouragement, significant items that allowed a glimpse into the lives of those people who never got to go home to their families that day.
From the outside, we may be another city dealing with the aftermath of a mass shooting. But we’re more than a statistic. We’re a community that cares, a widespread yet close-knit group of individuals mourning together and figuring out where to go from here. As individuals, we’re processing undeniable feelings of vulnerability, grief, anger and confusion. Together, we’re checking in on our friends and neighbors to ask how they’re doing. Together, we’re raising funds for the victims’ families. Together we’re wearing blue in an unspoken message of solidarity. Together we’re #VBStrong.
Photo courtesy of the City of Virginia Beach
Photo by David Uhrin
Photo courtesy of the City of Virginia Beach
Photo by David Uhrin
Photos courtesy of the City of Virginia Beach
Photo by David Uhrin
Photo courtesy of the City of Virginia Beach
Photo by Shelby Frank
Photo by Peter Squicciarini
Photos courtesy of the City of Virginia Beach
