VIRGINIA BEACH — A survivor of the mass shooting in Virginia Beach who doesn’t want to return to his workplace has been arrested on a “disturbing the peace” charge.
Jonathan McIvor is accused of raising his voice and showing hostility when his supervisors asked why he won’t return to work in the building where a city employee killed 12 people.
Chief technology officer Darrell Riddick and acting operations manager Jamie Weaver filed the complaint. They alleged that McIvor began yelling, “stood up aggressively” and stormed out, saying he was going to call Human Resources.
McIvor’s bosses said the shooting has them afraid of future escalations. They accused McIvor of having acted aggressively before.
McIvor’s attorney said the criminal complaint does not accuse McIvor of making any threats: “The man did nothing remotely close to criminal,” Taite Westendorf said.
Virginia Beach’s city manager has said nobody will be forced to return to the building. But McIvor’s information technology job apparently requires that he access server equipment in the basement.
The paper reports McIvor was held for more than 24 hours before he was freed pending a July 31 trial. Westendorf is hoping the charge is dropped.
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