Police spokesperson provides update on Walmart shooting
A 16-year-old has been identified as one of the victims of the Chesapeake Walmart store shooting.
Fernando Chavez Jr and five others were shot and killed and at least four others were injured when gunman Andre Bing opened fire on the department store on Tuesday.
A chilling “manifesto” was found on the shooter’s cell phone, where he laid out the motive for the mass shooting in Virginia ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Witnesses have described how the horrific events unfolded in the employee break room, as investigators try to piece together a motive.
A law enforcement source told local media that Bing was “upset” about a recent change in employment status and complained of being “harassed” by co-workers.
A former colleague also said he was paranoid that the government was watching him and that he didn’t like being recorded. A witness claims to have seen him target some people during the attack.
President Joe Biden said yesterday that the shooting, along with the massacre at an LGBT+ club in Colorado Springs over the weekend, underscored the need to ban “sick” assault weapons with no social value.
‘I miss my baby’: Families remember Walmart shooting victims
Guardian and father of two children. A mother with marriage plans. A carefree guy.
That’s how friends and family have described some of the six people killed at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Va., when a manager opened fire with a handgun just before an employee meeting. Five adults have been identified, while authorities have not released the name of the sixth person killed, a 16-year-old boy.
Here are some details about those who were lost.
Ben Finley and Jennifer Sinco Kelleher have the story.
Josh MarcusNovember 25, 2022 04:20
Community members mourn teenage shooting victim in Chesapeake
Community members gathered Thursday to mourn Fernando Chavez Jr, one of the victims of the Chesapeake Walmart shooting.
Authorities previously kept the 16-year-old’s name confidential, due to his age, but supporters have now organized a memorial fund a GoFundMe in his name.
Chavez was remembered as “an incredible person who will be missed,” according to the page.
“He was a grade 11 student and new driver, who was excited about his first part-time job at Walmart,” the GoFundMe page continues. “An exceptional son and an excellent big brother, he loved building with Legos. He will always be remembered as a humble, loving, responsible and hardworking young man.
Josh MarcusNovember 25, 2022 03:20
Should we rebroadcast the name of the Chesapeake shooter?
As Americans across the country rush for information about the Chesapeake Walmart shooting, a local newsroom has made an interesting decision: not to repeatedly broadcast the alleged shooter’s name.
Deciding how much to center the identity of the shooter after a massacre is often a controversial choice in newsrooms.
On the one hand, focusing on the perpetrator sheds light on what happened and can suggest places authorities can look for future warning signs.
In contrast, the identity of the shooter can often overshadow that of the victims, or even inspire cat copies.
What do you think is the best way forward?
Josh MarcusNovember 25, 2022 02:20
There have been 609 mass shootings this year
The Chesapeake shooting was yet another mass murder in the epidemic of gun violence in the United States.
According to data from the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 609 mass murders in the United States this year, part of the 39,843 gun violence deaths in the country.
Josh MarcusNovember 25, 2022 01:20
Walmart hosts Thanksgiving meal at Virginia Hotel for traumatized employees
Walmart hosted a Thanksgiving dinner Thursday for employees at a store in Chesapeake, Va., where six people were killed in a mass shooting on Tuesday, ABC News reports.
The meal was held at the Delta Hotel in Chesapeake and featured store employees and their families, along with religious leaders to offer comfort.
Seven people remain in hospital with injuries after the shooting.
Josh MarcusNovember 25, 2022 12:50 a.m.
Video: Church holds service to honor Chesapeake shooting victims
A church in Chesapeake, Va., held a candlelight service in honor of the six people killed Tuesday in a mass shooting at a Walmart store.
The service was one of many memorials to the tragedy, which have sprung up in the store and around the city.
Watch the full video below, via Reuters.
Josh MarcusNovember 25, 2022 12:20 a.m.
Chesapeake survivors recount horrific moments from shooting
Survivors of the Nov. 22 shooting inside a Virginia Walmart that killed six people have begun sharing their experiences.
Donya Prioleau said she was inside the employee break room when gunshots began to ring out.
“Half of us didn’t believe it was real until some of us saw all the blood on the floor,” she added.
Another coworker, Jessie Wilczewski, told the network she could have fled the shooting, but opted to stay in the store while her coworkers lived out their final moments.
“I could have run through that door…and I stayed. I stayed so they wouldn’t be alone,” she said.
Josh MarcusNovember 24, 2022 11:30 p.m.
Memorial grows outside Chesapeake Walmart after mass shooting
Mourners and community members built a memorial outside the Chesapeake, Va., Walmart, where six people were killed in a mass shooting on Tuesday.
Flowers and balloons were put together to remember the victims: Brian Pendleton, Kellie Pyle, Lorenzo Gamble, Randy Blevins, Tyneka Johnson and a 16-year-old boy whose name has been kept confidential.
“It was important for us to come out and remember,” a community member told WAVY. “It was important to remember the lives lost and all those affected by the tragedy. It’s heartbreaking to think of all the employees who have to come back and realize what happened here. All those who are in the hospital, no more families, it is very tragic.
Josh MarcusNovember 24, 2022 11:00 p.m.
‘It’s Andre’: Video shows suspected Walmart shooter Andre Bing joking with co-workers
A video circulating on social media shows suspected Chesapeake Walmart shooter Andre Bing at work, joking with his co-workers. In the original clip, which appears to have been removed from Facebook, shows an individual who looks like Bing telling a story about parking a car, before smiling and stepping out of frame when he realizes he’s being recorded. .
“It’s André,” a colleague can be heard saying in the background.
“YOU KILLED PEOPLE WHO WERE REALLY CLOSE TO ME THERE. I NEVER THOUGHT YOU WERE DOING S*** LIKE THIS…IT’S THE MANAGER WHO DID THIS!! ROT IN HELL” , wrote Draayia Janaee, who posted the video, on Facebook, reports Fox News.
Josh MarcusNovember 24, 2022 10:30 p.m.
An In-Depth Look at the Causes of the Chesapeake Walmart Shooting
Police said that on Andre Bing’s cellphone they discovered a kind of “manifesto”, in which he complained about unspecified changes in his employment status and what he called harassment of other staff about it. A report said that near his body, police found a list of employees he planned to attack.
As America marked Thanksgiving Day, police in Chesapeake, Va., searched for clues to the mass shooting at a Walmart store, an incident whose horror reverberated across the country, another shooting of shaken mass taking place in the most mundane setting.
In Nantucket, Massachusetts, a vacationing Joe Biden was asked about the incident and he vowed he would take action to control the sale of semi-automatic weapons.
“The idea that we don’t enforce red flag laws…is ridiculous,” he said. “The idea that we still allow the purchase of semi-automatic weapons is sick. Just sick. It has no redeeming social value. Zero. None. Not a single solitary justification for it except profit for the manufacturers of firearms.
Andrew Buncombe has the whole story for The Independent.
Josh MarcusNovember 24, 2022 10:00 p.m.