The shooter at a Chesapeake, Virginia, Walmart that killed six people Tuesday night was a store manager who also died of a self-inflicted shot, according to police.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Chesapeake Police Chief Mark declined to identify the shooter, who did say he used a gun and died at the scene : “We believe it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.” , said.
With the investigation just underway,was unable to offer many details. He did inform that the second mass shooting in the country in just four days also left four injured who had to be
911 received the first call reporting the shooting at the Sam’s Circle Walmart at 10:12 pm. Arriving two minutes later, officers found the scene of a multiple shooting that had already ended and the perpetrator was dead.
acknowledged to the journalists’ questions that the authorities still had not confirmed the motives and said he did not know if the attacker had a criminal record, although he clarified that the investigation is in an initial phase.
The massacre occurred two days before Thanksgiving, the country’s quintessential family holiday, which this year falls on Thursday, November 24, followed a weekend shooting attack at an club in Colorado that left five people dead.
It was also the second mass shooting in the state of Virginia this month: Three University of Virginia students playing on their football team were killed on November 13 by a classmate after a field trip.
Unanswered questions from the attack on a Virginia Walmart
It was also unclear if the victims were his target or he shot at them randomly. He couldn’t confirm if the deceased were all Walmart employees.
The agent could not provide details of how the author was dressed, if he was wearing some to type of bulletproof vest or was carrying ammunition that would suggest that he had planned a greater massacre.
Neither, when asked, could he provide details of how and where in the store the shooting occurred, nor of the specific place where the author’s body was found.
“We are going to be looking at the crime scene for days. I would hate to say anything that was disinformation,” he said.
“My boss opened the door and started shooting”
Briana Tyler, a Walmart employee cited by AP, said the author was a manager who opened fire in a room where employees rest.
“I looked up and my boss just opened the door and started shooting,” he told ABC’s Good Morning America.
Tyler added that “several people” threw themselves to the ground. “He didn’t say a word, he didn’t say anything at all ,” she added.
said that workers had gathered in the store’s break room as they typically did ahead of their shifts.
At the time of the incident, the Walmart was full of people shopping before the Thanksgiving holidays.
Walmart says it’s shocked
Walmart , the largest retailer in the United States, issued a statement early on Wednesday saying it was “shocked by this tragic event,” AF quoted.
“We pray for those affected, the community and our collaborators. We are working closely with the security forces and we are focused on supporting our collaborators,” adds the US supermarket giant.
Virginia State Senator Louise Lucas said she was “absolutely heartbroken.”
” I will not rest until we find solutions to end this epidemic of gun violence in our country that has claimed so many lives,” he posted on Twitter.
“Tragically, our community is experiencing another incident of senseless gun violence just as families are gathering for Thanksgiving,” Congressman Bobby Scott of Virginia tweeted.
A database from the AP, USA Today and Northeastern University that tracks every mass shooting (at least four dead) since 2006 shows that 2022 has been particularly bad. This year there have been 40, only surpassed by the 45 of 2019.
First images of the shooting that left at least 6 dead in a Virginia Walmart
