VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. _ Early Monday, Amber Hester walked near a memorial for the 12 shooting victims killed by a gunman on Friday, wondering how many of those people she might have encountered around the Municipal Center.
Hester works in the school administration building a few hundred yards from Building 2, where the tragedy took place.
School employees walk around the block at lunch to exercise 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."
Hillary Hedrick, a deputy clerk at the courthouse, echoed those thoughts, saying it was "surreal."
"It's just sad knowing that some of our fellow Virginia Beach workers are not coming back today," Hedrick said.
Hester, Hedrick and some other city employees began returning 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 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 follow-up 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 had roughly nine years of service instead of the 15 that officials previously reported, Hill said.
John Sutton, the school system's coordinator of policy and constituent services, said his building was quiet on Monday morning. He was one of hundreds of division employees at a 9 a.m. vigil outside their building.
Yellow tape around Building 2 was visible, as was the memorial for the victims.
"You feel bad for those people who were truly affected," Sutton said before the vigil. "You have to help where you can."
As people walked to the gathering they passed Nala, a 3-year-old SPCA rescue dog brought by Nancy Liette, a procurement assistant.
"She's just here to spread some love today," Liette said.
Thousands of city workers are also gathering across town at the Convention Center this morning near the Oceanfront. A fire engine displays a large American flag in front of the building, and a helicopter is circling above. The city manager is expected to talk to the crowd, and it'll give city employees the chance to grieve together.
"This is simply step one to wrap our minds and hearts around this senseless tragedy," a city spokeswoman said in an email. "A time to give one another a 'group hug.'"
Wesley Brown, 26, said counselors inside the Convention Center are discussing ways to cope with the tragedy.
"They told us to try to get back to our normal activity," said Brown, a public works employee.
He doesn't work in Building 2 but has family members who know two of the victims.
"It's just shocking to me," he said. "It could have been any of us."
Brown's hoping for more information from the city about the murderer _ "What drove the man to do what he did?"
Marcela Marcelo, who works for the information technology department, left work early Friday to go to a retirement party for his boss. He's often in and out of Building 2, and works across the street.
"It was fortunate that I was able to get out of there," he said.
He hoped Monday's gathering would help him understand why the shooting happened.
"It is good to come here and honor our fallen comrade and friends, however, this is an opportunity to try to get back to normalcy," Marcelo said outside of the Convention Center. "It is not just going to take one day _ it is going to take a lot of time to try and get back to where we were before this happened. This is going to linger on and everyone deals with grief differently."
Kristi Rines, the city's recycling coordinator, said she's ready to get back to work but appreciates having a day to pause and remember those who died.
"It is really nice to be able to bring everyone into the same space and work through emotions together, to grieve together," Rines said. "The city is doing a great job of taking care of the employees and families."
Sheriff Ken Stolle blended into a sea of deputies walking into the Convention Center.
"It is good to be together," Stolle said. "Healing is the most important part."
(Staff writers Peter Coutu, Margaret Matray and Jane Harper contributed to this report.)
