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Regulation enforcement work the scene of a mass taking pictures at a Walmart, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022, in Chesapeake, Va. The shop was busy simply earlier than the taking pictures Tuesday night time with folks stocking up forward of the Thanksgiving vacation.
Alex Brandon | AP
A Walmart night time crew supervisor killed six folks Tuesday night time earlier than taking his personal life on the Walmart Supercenter in Chesapeake, Virginia, police mentioned Wednesday.
The bloodbath got here as folks had been looking for last-minute Thanksgiving objects and because the retailer ready for Black Friday, when buyers historically head to retailers similar to Walmart to purchase vacation presents at cut price costs.
The gunman — recognized as Andre Bing, 31, of Chesapeake — was a disgruntled worker, a senior legislation enforcement official advised NBC Information. He was armed with a pistol and had a number of ammunition magazines on him, officials said.
Bing was an in a single day crew lead, and he had been with the corporate since 2010, Walmart mentioned.
“We really feel tragedies like this personally and deeply. However this one is very painful as we have now discovered the gunman was a Walmart affiliate,” John Furner, Walmart’s U.S. chief government, mentioned in a message to workers. “Our hearts and prayers are with these impacted, and we’re grateful for the actions of first responders.”
Firm CEO Doug McMillon, in a LinkedIn submit, pledged to help the shop’s associates within the aftermath of the taking pictures.
In June, Walmart mentioned it added a category to its retailer supervisor coaching program that focuses on recognizing workers and prospects who may have an intervention for psychological well being points. Officers mentioned Wednesday that they had but to find out a “clear motive” for Tuesday’s rampage.
The taking pictures was reported to police shortly after 10 p.m. ET, and officers arrived on the scene inside minutes. Police declared the shop protected by 11:20 p.m., officers mentioned Wednesday.
A neighborhood hospital handled different victims.
The gunman apparently died of a self-inflicted gunshot, police mentioned Wednesday.
Chesapeake Police and the Virginia State Police executed a search warrant on the suspect’s residence, and authorities consider there isn’t a additional threat to the general public, officers mentioned Wednesday.
The Chesapeake retailer will stay closed as authorities examine the taking pictures. That course of may take days, officers mentioned.
The Walmart bloodbath got here three days after a lethal mass taking pictures at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, wherein 5 folks had been killed. In Might, a white racist gunman shot up a Buffalo, New York, grocery retailer, killing 10 folks in a predominantly Black neighborhood.
Different Walmart shops have been the scenes of lethal shootings. In 2019, a gunman attacked a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, killing greater than 20 folks, simply days after two retailer associates had been killed within the firm’s Southaven, Mississippi, retailer. On the time, McMillon mentioned Walmart would additional prohibit gun gross sales at its shops in response to the shootings.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday known as the taking pictures a “horrific and mindless act of violence” and mentioned the nation wanted to take stronger motion on weapons.
“We’re grateful to the primary responders who mobilized to help victims, and I’ve directed federal officers to supply any help and help wanted to the folks of Chesapeake,” he mentioned in an announcement.
In case you are having suicidal ideas or are in misery, contact the Suicide & Disaster Lifeline at 988 for help and help from a educated counselor.
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