More information is coming to light in the deadly shooting at a Walmart store in Chesapeake, Virginia, that left six victims — including a minor — dead and injured six others.
The dead have been identified as Lorenzo Gamble, Brian Pendleton, Kellie Pyle, Randall Blevins, Tyneka Johnson, and 16-year-old Fernando Chavez-Barron.
All the deceased victims were from Chesapeake, except for Johnson, who lived in nearby Portsmouth.
On November 22, at around 10:12 p.m., Chesapeake police responded to the Walmart located at 1521 Sam’s Circle in reference to an active shooter inside the store, according to a news release.
The shooter, identified by police as 31-year-old Andre Bing of Chesapeake, allegedly shot and killed six people and injured six others before turning the gun on himself. He died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound and was found dead in a breakroom, according to police.
Police said Bing was an overnight team leader at the store, where he had worked since 2010.
Jessica Wilczewski, who works at the store, spoke to the Associated Press and said Bing came into the break room before the late shift started and opened fire with a purpose, contradicting the account of another witness who said the gunman shot wildly.
“The way he was acting — he was going hunting,” Wilczewski said on Thursday. “The way he was looking at people’s faces and the way he did what he did, he was picking people out.”
She said Bing let her go after he recognized her and continued firing at employees he had already hit.
“What I do know is that he made sure who he wanted dead was dead,” she said. “He went back and shot dead bodies that were already dead. To make sure.”
The shooter, dressed in civilian clothing, was armed with one handgun and several magazines and was not wearing any type of armor or ballistic vest, police said. He used a 9mm handgun that was legally purchased from a local store on the morning of the shooting. He had no criminal history.
Detectives conducted a forensic analysis of Bing’s phone, which was found at the scene. A “death note,” reportedly Bing’s manifesto, was located on the device.
Bing reportedly threw away a “kill list” of co-workers with the name of one of his victims circled in ink, according to the New York Post. The names of two of the injured victims were also apparently circled on the list.
Walmart Chief Executive Doug McMillon shared his condolences for the victims in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday.
“The devastating news of last night’s shooting at our Chesapeake store at the hands of one of our associates has hit our Walmart family hard,” the post read.
“My heart hurts for our associates and the community who have lost or injured loved ones. We are here for them today, and in the challenging days ahead, they will have our support.”
On Friday, a representative for the Chesapeake Police Department told The Dallas Express that police are still investigating the mass shooting and have not discovered a motive yet.
This is not the first mass shooting that occurred at a Walmart store. In 2019, 23 people were killed when a gunman opened fire at a Walmart in El Paso.
In response to the El Paso shooting, which law enforcement described as an act of domestic terrorism, Walmart enforced restrictions on gun and ammunition sales.
