Virginia Beach Mass Shooting Commission member says state delegate sent copy of shooter’s laptop

David Cariens, a member of the Virginia Beach Mass Shooting Commission, said Wednesday a state delegate this week sent him a copy of the hard drive from the laptop allegedly found in the gunman’s condo.

“I have not even had a chance to look at it,” said Cariens at the commission’s meeting in Richmond, explaining he was unsure what it contained.

The gunman, a disgruntled city employee, fatally shot 12 people May 31, 2019, at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center before he was killed by police.

In a bizarre turn of events, Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler, D-Virginia Beach, previously announced this year she had come into possession of a laptop that purportedly belonged to the gunman.

However, Convirs-Fowler told the commission at its January meeting that she would be unable to provide any information because she no longer had the laptop and had given it to the Department of Justice. Later that day, her lawyer Joseph Sherman told The Virginian-Pilot the laptop had not been turned over, but said he planned to send it to the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.

Commission Chairman Ryant Washington said Wednesday he was subsequently unsure how the delegate had provided any information to Cariens.

“I’m confused,” he said. “If you don’t have it, you don’t have it.”

Regardless, Washington said the authenticity of the content on the hard drive would need to be determined by another entity before the commission could consider it.

“That’s not our duty to do forensic work,” he said.

Cariens pointed out that the group had an IT specialist among its members. But other commission members agreed with Washington.

“We don’t know who’s had it, we don’t know who’s tampered with it. We don’t even know if this laptop was in fact found where these people said they found it,” said member Bob Geis.

Debbie Borato, the sister of shooting victim Michelle “Missy” Langer, obtained the gunman’s Virginia Beach condo following a wrongful death lawsuit against the administrator of his estate. She and her friend, Beth Mann, said they initially found the laptop on Nov. 22 while they were cleaning the condo preparing for its sale. Mann turned the laptop over to Convirs-Fowler.

Convirs-Fowler was one of two delegates who pushed to create the 21-member commission in late 2020 due to concerns the city investigation into the shooting wasn’t impartial enough to be effective. Some survivors and family members have long alleged the gunman demonstrated alarming behavior and the city should have taken action prior to the shooting to protect employees.

The commission was tasked with conducting an independent review of the shooting and the city’s actions and to make recommendations about how localities can prevent or improve their responses to similar tragedies.

Washington said Wednesday that he hoped the group would be able to provide some recommendations to the General Assembly this fall.

In addition to discussing the laptop, Washington announced Wednesday that commission member Jim Redick had resigned. Redick’s resignation comes amid a string of other resignations last year and allegations from some members of dysfunction.

The commission now has eight members remaining.

The chairman read Redick’s resignation letter out loud.

“While I stand by my work and hope the information is useful towards making meaningful improvements throughout the Commonwealth, I remain concerned about the motivations of one other member,” the letter stated. “As such, I respectfully request my name not be included or associated with any final commission product.”

The letter further stated that Redick appreciated the chairman’s leadership and hoped the state would approve the commission-supported Virginia Mass Violence Care Fund.

The $10 million fund would help survivors of mass violence with the long-term physical and mental health needs not covered by their insurance. The General Assembly did not include the money in last year’s budget.

This year’s budget negotiations are ongoing.

Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com