A Mass Shooter Killed Six People At A Walmart In Virginia & Staff Say He Was A Manager
Several people were killed at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia, late Tuesday, in the second pre-Thanksgiving mass shooting to hit the U.S. this week.
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Authorities say six people died in the attack, which happened Tuesday night ahead of the Black Friday surge.
The shooter was also found dead at the store.
Police confirmed that the shooter was an employee, and witnesses have described him as a manager at the Walmart.
The victims had not yet been identified as of Wednesday morning, but witnesses say many of them were employees. Four victims were still in the hospital on Wednesday morning, police said.
Walmart employee Briana Tyler told ABC News that the gunman, who was her manager, started shooting in the breakroom as her team was getting ready for the night shift.
"I looked up and my manager just opened the door and he just opened fire," she said. "He just started shooting throughout the entire breakroom and I watched multiple people just drop down to the floor."
She added that he looked "directly at me" but he missed her head.
"He didn't say anything at all," she said. "He just came around the corner and he just started shooting."
Tyler added that he was "the manager that everybody had something to say about," but she never thought this might happen.
"Just left out the breakroom, manager come in there and started capping people up in there," another Walmart employee said in an interview that has since spread widely online. "I'm whole though, y'all. Sadly though, we lost a few of our associates."
\u201c#BREAKING Walmart employee at #Chesapeake #Virginia says his manager came into the break room and shot multiple employees #Walmart #walmartBlackFriday\u201d— TICKER NEWS (@TICKER NEWS) 1669179779
It’s the second mass shooting to result in multiple fatalities since Saturday, when a gunman killed five people at a 2SLGBTQIA+ nightclub in Colorado Springs. More than a dozen others were injured and the suspect was ultimately arrested.
It’s also not the first time a mass shooting has happened at a Walmart. A gunman killed 23 people at another Walmart in El Paso back in 2019, in an attack that was said to be targeted toward Hispanic people.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin condemned the latest shooting in a statement on Wednesday morning.
"Our hearts break with the community of Chesapeake this morning," he wrote. "Heinous acts of violence have no place in our communities."
Authorities say they showed up within two minutes of receiving the 911 call, and they recovered a handgun at the scene.
Police say there is no risk to the public and the investigation is still underway.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
