Mass Shooting At Chesapeake, Virginia Walmart.Photo: Zach D Roberts/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
Briana Tyler was in the break room with 15 to 20 colleagues before her overnight shift Tuesday night atWalmart when her managerwalked in and opened fire on the staff with a pistol.
“I looked up and my manager just opened the door and he just opened fire,” Tyler toldABC’s Good Morning AmericaWednesday. “He just started shooting throughout the entire break room. I watched multiple people drop down to the floor, whether they were ducking for cover or they were hit.”
The manager looked her way, fired, but missed.
Tyler said he didn’t say anything during the shooting.
“I would have never thought he would do something like this,” she said. “Absolutely not.”
Six people died and five people were injured in the country’s latest mass shooting, theVirginian-Pilotreported.
Tuesday night’s attackin Chesapeake, Va., came just days after 5 people were killed and around 18 people were injured inColorado Springswhen a 22-year-old gunman opened fire on patrons at anLGBTQ club.
Tyler said the deadly rampage happened so quickly she first thought it was “like a test type of thing,” theAssociated Pressreported.
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“Like, if you do have an active shooter, this is how you respond.”
Mass Shooting at Chesapeake, Virginia Walmart.Uncredited/AP/Shutterstock
Another employee, Jessie Wilczewski, toldWAVYthat she took cover under a table when the shooter, with his gun pointed in her direction, told her to go home. “It didn’t even look real until you could feel the … ‘pow-pow-pow,’ you can feel it,” she said. “I couldn’t hear it at first because I guess it was so loud, I could feel it.”
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Joetta Jeffery toldCNNthat her mother, Betsy Umphlett, was inside the store when the shooting started and sent her texts.
“I’m crying, I’m shaking,” Jeffery said. “I had just talked to her about buying turkeys for Thanksgiving, then this text came in.”
Her mother was uninjured in the attack.
“The alleged shooter has been identified as Andre Bing. We can confirm he was a Walmart associate. Andre’s position with the company was overnight team lead and he’s been employed with us since 2010. We are thankful for the local first responders and will continue to work with law enforcement as they continue their investigation.”
The people injured in the shooting are currently being treated at Sentara General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia. The status of their health and thenature of their injuriesis currently unknown, according to authorities.
“We are shocked at this tragic event at our Chesapeake, Virginia store,” a company spokesperson said in a statement, per NBC News and CNN. “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.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives ishelping local policewith the investigation, the Washington D.C. office of the bureau revealed on Twitter.
source: people.com
