This past Tuesday evening, a manager of a Walmart in Virginia reportedly went on a rampage across the store’s breakroom, gunning down a group of six people, including a number of employees, before turning his weapon on himself as the holiday shoppers were quickly loading up on last second items for Thanksgiving Day.
After being identified by a witness but not yet by police officials, the gunman has been reported to be one of the store’s male managers at the Chesapeake store, was already dead when police forces arrived at the location at 10:14 p.m. It was not entirely clear if he had chosen to kill himself or if he had been taken down by people in the store.
“We are shocked at this tragic event at our Chesapeake, Virginia store,” expressed a spokesperson for the retail titan via a release. “We’re praying for those impacted, the community and our associates. We’re working closely with law enforcement, and we are focused on supporting our associates.”
As of writing, it is still unknown if all the victims of the attack were employees of the store, what type of firearm was sued, or what the motive to the attack even was. The body of at least one of the victims was discovered outside of the store. Another five other victims were moved over to the local Sentara Norfolk General Hospital for treatment.
“I am devastated by the senseless act of violence that took place late last night in our City,” explained Rick West, the Mayor of Chesapeake, via a statement. “My prayers are with all those affected — the victims, their family, their friends, and their coworkers. I am grateful for the quick actions taken by our first responders who rushed to the scene. Chesapeake is a tightknit community and we are all shaken by this news.”
Glenn Youngkin, the Governor of Virginia who late last week mourned the victims of a recent mass shooting that took place on the University of Virginia campus, put forth his own statement about the horrid incident.
“Our hearts break with the community of Chesapeake this morning,” stated Youngkin. “I remain in contact with law enforcement officials throughout this morning and have mad available any resources as this investigation move forward. Heinous acts of violence have no place in our communities.”
One store employee spoke to the media at the scene, giving a chhilling account of the tragedy and claiming that the killer was a manager for the store.
“It was the manager,” claimed the employee. “One of the managers. He blew his brains out and everything”
“He killed the girl in there and everything,” the employee went on. “He came in and started spraying. I’m sorry for the victims. I just left the break room, the manager came in there and started capping people up in there, started shooting.”
One witness was able to identify the gunman by name to FOX 3.
“[He] snapped, walked out and shot a lady in her head then shot another man in his head, both dead,” explained the witness. “Then shot my homeboy dead, then shot himself in the head.”