VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. _ Early Monday, Amber Hester walked near a memorial for shooting victims, and wondered how many of those people she might have passed before around the Municipal Center.
Hester works in the school system's visual arts department, in the school administration building just a few hundred yards from Building 2, where on Friday 12 people were fatally shot and the gunman killed by police.
School employees often get exercise walking around the block at lunch and pass city staffers, and Hester wondered how many people from that building she has seen.
"It's just somber. It's surreal," she said. "This is where we come to work every day. It's just sad."
She and other city employees began going back to work on Monday _ though most offices at the complex are closed except for the school administration building and the courthouse.
Some essential personnel will still have to report to work to complete relocation plans, City Manager Dave Hansen said.
The rest of the complex will reopen Tuesday _ but not Building 2.
Hansen revealed for the first time Sunday that the shooter had emailed in his resignation the morning of the tragedy. The gunman's note was "brief" and "unremarkable," not giving any hints of what was to come just hours later, city spokeswoman Julie Hill said in an email to The Virginian-Pilot. She did not respond to a followup email seeking more information.
Hill said she is not certain when city officials learned of the email and that document is now part of the investigative file.
"If and when detectives are able to clear it for release, we will provide it," Hill wrote in the email.
In a news conference Sunday, Hansen described the city engineer's job performance as "satisfactory." To his knowledge, Hansen said the gunman was in good standing in his department and had not faced any ongoing disciplinary action.
The city also corrected past information about DeWayne Craddock's employment with Virginia Beach. His start date was Feb. 1, 2010, and he amassed roughly nine years of service instead of the 15 that officials previously reported, Hill said.
Thousands of city workers are also gathering across town at the convention center this morning. A fire engine displays a large American flag in front of the building, and a helicopter is circling above.
A worker from the parks and recreation department, who declined to be named, said he's hoping this morning's event will provide a sense of "unity and camaraderie.
"This hits close to home," he said.
