As if the Virginia Beach shooting massacre that claimed 12 innocent lives and injured 4 two weeks ago wasn’t heartbreaking enough, the lawyer of shooting victim Kate Nixon says she had considered bringing her pistol in to work due to safety concerns about two co-workers, but ultimately decided not to because it was prohibited.

The Virginian-Pilot reports:

Kate Nixon had considered taking a gun to work on May 31, the day a co-worker killed her and 11 others in the country’s deadliest mass shooting this year, a family attorney said on a radio show Monday.

The public utilities engineer was concerned about DeWayne Craddock “as well as one other person,” said Kevin Martingayle, an attorney working with Nixon’s family. So on the night of May 30, Nixon had discussed with her husband, Jason, “whether or not she should take a pistol and hide it in her handbag,” Martingayle said. She decided against it because of a city policy that prevents employees from bringing weapons to work.

The next day, Craddock, who had worked as a city public utilities engineer for nine years, used a .45-caliber handgun with a legally purchased silencer to fire at colleagues in Building 2 of the city’s Municipal Center in Princess Anne.

Her husband confirmed the story in a later interview with the paper:

So when she told her husband, Jason, that she had concerns about two of her co-workers, he knew it was serious. She didn’t like to be around DeWayne Craddock, a fellow engineer — he gave off “real bad vibes” and she’d had to write him up several times for issues with performance and attitude. They both worked on the second floor of Building 2 in the Municipal Center.

But on the night of May 30, it was another man she was most worried about. Kate told her husband that the man, whom Jason Nixon declined to identify, was set to be fired Friday and there was supposed to be a police escort on scene when it happened. While cooking dinner, she expressed her concerns.

“She said, ‘This guy’s going to come back and shoot the place up,’ ” Jason Nixon said. He encouraged his wife to hide a pistol in her purse and take it to work — she had training and knew how to use it — but she didn’t want to break city policy forbidding employees from bringing weapons to work.

Shortly after 4 p.m. on May 31, it was Craddock who opened fire in Building 2, killing Kate and 11 others.

Kate Nixon was a mother of three young daughters. She and her husband would have celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary in July.

Mrs. Nixon was one of several shooting victims who sustained shots to the head.

Her husband says her actions that day ultimately saved lives:

Kate, a veteran engineer for the City of Virginia Beach, was first shot in the shoulder in Building 2. At 4:06 p.m. that Friday, she called and implored her husband to call 911 while she worked to help others.

“She didn’t seem distressed. She seemed in control,” he said.

That was typical Kate – a logical thinker, calm and collected. He then fired off a slew of texts, hoping she would be on the other end.

“I said, ‘I love you… what’s going on? Please call me. Are you okay?'” he read from his phone.

“Please Kate, I love you,” was his final text to her, sent at 4:27 p.m.

At 11 p.m. that night, he would find out Kate was dead.

Martingayle’s and Jason Nixon’s comments are sure to renew the debate surrounding gun-free zones.

To learn more about the victims, click here.

These are the 12 victims of the Virginia Beach mass shooting. Here are their stories. https://t.co/Ocs1c5qN2L pic.twitter.com/Smb50u4qg7

— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) June 6, 2019

Please continue to keep their family members, friends, and surviving colleagues in your thoughts and prayers.

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—Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter.–