Victim of the Virginia Beach shooting: Ryan Keith Cox dies while trying to save colleagues, said a survivor

Twelve people were killed Friday, during a mass shootout at the Virginia Beach Civic Center, Virginia, after an employee of the city opened fire in the building, authorities said. A survivor told NPR that her colleague and long-time friend had tried to save other people in the building – and eventually lost her life because of her courage.

Christi Dewar, a public service employee for almost 13 years, said she thought it was a difficult exercise when a woman ran down the hallway of an office shouting "active shooter". Dewar said the shots initially resembled "like a nail gun that fires". She did not think that an armed man was behind the noise because renovations were going on in the building.

However, as rumors continued, Dewar and Ryan Keith Cox were alarmed. Dewar described Cox as one of his closest friends and a longtime colleague. The two started their government positions the same day, had offices close to each other and clicked on a basic level, she said, depending on the point of sale.

The co-workers started walking up a staircase that they thought was safe from shooting noises when another colleague came running, asking them to go in the opposite direction. While Dewar said that she thought the rest room would be a safe place, Cox begged them to stay in an office.

"He said, 'No, stay here, stay calm,'" Dewar remembered. "I said:" Come on, "and he said:" I have to go check on others. " He told Dewar and seven of their colleagues to barricade themselves in the room and then to the left. The group blocked the door with a heavy cabinet and remained silent while hiding behind furniture.

"Two bullets are almost past the back of the cabinet," Dewar said. "We fell to the ground and then we heard other shots close to us," she said. "It's at that time that he had Keith."

After the bullet noises became harder to hear, Dewar called 911 – and the police quickly arrived, she said. An officer held his hand as they walked down the steps and told him to "do not look down." However, Dewar said she was having trouble looking away from what was under her feet.

"Going down the stairs," Dewar said at the exit, "I had to step over one of my friends."

"I called it my big teddy bear," said Dewar of Cox. "Whenever I was angry, he hugged me in. When I was angry about something, he knew exactly what to say to make you smile."

The heroic story echoes that of other victims in two recent murders. Student Kendrick Castillo was the only casualty killed in the May shootout at STEM School Highlands Ranch in Colorado. He died trying to prevent one of the armed suspects from firing, thus allowing his comrades to escape. With several other students, he helped to prevent others violence.

Riley Howell, one of two students killed in Charlotte at the end of April in Charlotte, in a shootout, was also hailed as a hero for his fight against the shooter. Officials said that if he had not had his actions, the shooter might not have been disarmed.

The Virginia Beach shooter, identified as a city employee, Dewayne Craddock, also injured four people before dying after a long shootout with the police. Craddock gave his two weeks notice hours before the massacre, city officials said Sunday. Eleven of those killed were city employees, while another was working as a contractor at the Virginia Beach Civic Center.