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CHESAPEAKE, Va. -- Authorities investigating the fatal shootings of six radical astatine a Walmart said that the shooter bought the weapon conscionable hours earlier and near a enactment with grievances against coworkers connected his phone.
Police successful Chesapeake, Virginia, issued a quality merchandise connected Friday that says they conducted a forensic investigation of Walmart supervisor Andre Bing’s telephone and discovered what was labeled a “Death Note.” Police accidental helium was the shooter and was recovered dormant astatine the country of the shooting precocious Tuesday of an seemingly self-inflicted gunshot wound.
In the enactment released by police, Bing said coworkers harassed him and mocked him.
Police said helium utilized a 9mm handgun legally purchased connected Tuesday morning, hours earlier the shooting. The merchandise said helium had nary transgression history.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier communicative follows below.
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) — The Walmart supervisor who changeable and killed six co-workers successful Virginia seemed to people radical and fired astatine immoderate victims aft they were already deed and appeared to beryllium dead, said a witnesser who was contiguous erstwhile the shooting started.
Jessica Wilczewski said workers were gathered successful a store interruption country to statesman their overnight displacement precocious Tuesday erstwhile squad person Andre Bing entered and opened occurrence with a handgun. While different witnesser has described Bing arsenic shooting wildly, Wilczewski said she observed him people definite people.
“The mode helium was acting — helium was going hunting," Wilczewski told The Associated Press connected Thursday. "The mode helium was looking astatine people’s faces and the mode helium did what helium did, helium was picking radical out.”
She said she observed him sprout astatine radical who were already connected the ground.
“What I bash cognize is that helium made definite who helium wanted dead, was dead,” she said. “He went backmost and changeable dormant bodies that were already dead. To marque sure.”
Wilczewski said she had lone worked astatine the store for 5 days and didn't cognize with whom Bing got on oregon had problems. She said being a caller worker whitethorn person been the crushed she was spared.
She said that aft the shooting started, a co-worker sitting adjacent to her pulled her nether the array to hide. She said that astatine 1 point, Bing told her to get retired from nether the table. But erstwhile helium saw who she was, helium told her, “Jessie, spell home.” She said she dilatory got up and past ran retired of the store.
Police are trying to find a motive, portion erstwhile coworkers are struggling to marque consciousness of the rampage successful Chesapeake, a metropolis of astir 250,000 radical adjacent Virginia's coast.
Some who worked with Bing, 31, said helium had a estimation for being an aggressive, if not hostile, supervisor, who erstwhile admitted to having “anger issues.” But helium besides could marque radical laughter and seemed to beryllium dealing with the emblematic stresses astatine enactment that galore radical endure.
“I don’t deliberation helium had galore radical to autumn backmost connected successful his idiosyncratic life,” said Nathan Sinclair, who worked astatine the Walmart for astir a twelvemonth earlier leaving earlier this month.
During chats among coworkers, “We would beryllium similar ‘work is consuming my life.’ And (Bing) would beryllium like, ‘Yeah, I don’t person a societal beingness anyway,’” Sinclair recalled Thursday.
Sinclair said helium and Bing did not get along. Bing was known for being “verbally hostile” to employees and wasn’t peculiarly well-liked, Sinclair said. But determination were times erstwhile Bing was made amusive of and not needfully treated fairly.
“There’s nary telling what helium could person been thinking. … You ne'er cognize if idiosyncratic truly doesn’t person immoderate benignant of enactment group,” Sinclair said.
On balance, Bing seemed beauteous mean to Janice Strausburg, who knew him from moving astatine Walmart for 13 years earlier leaving successful June.
Bing could beryllium “grumpy” but could besides beryllium “placid,” she said. He made radical laughter and told Strausburg helium liked dance. When she invited him to church, helium declined but mentioned that his parent had been a preacher.
Strausburg thought Bing’s grumpiness was owed to the stresses that travel with immoderate job. He besides erstwhile told her that helium had “had choler issues” and complained helium was going to “get the managers successful trouble.”
She ne'er expected this.
“I deliberation helium had intelligence issues,” Strausburg said Thursday. “What other could it be?”
Tuesday night's unit successful Chesapeake was the nation’s 2nd high-profile wide shooting successful 4 days. Bing was dormant erstwhile officers reached the store successful the state's second-largest city. Authorities said helium seemingly changeable himself.
Police person identified the victims arsenic Brian Pendleton, 38; Kellie Pyle, 52; Lorenzo Gamble, 43; and Randy Blevins, 70, who were each from Chesapeake; and Tyneka Johnson, 22, of adjacent Portsmouth. The dormant besides included a 16-year-old lad whose sanction was withheld due to the fact that of his age, constabulary said.
A Walmart spokesperson confirmed successful an email that each of the victims worked for the company.
Krystal Kawabata, a spokesperson for the FBI’s tract bureau successful Norfolk, Virginia, confirmed the bureau is assisting constabulary with the probe but directed each inquiries to the Chesapeake Police Department, the pb investigative agency.
Another Walmart employee, Briana Tyler, has said Bing appeared to occurrence astatine random.
“He was conscionable shooting each passim the room. It didn’t substance who helium hit,” Tyler told the AP Wednesday.
Six radical besides were wounded successful the shooting, which happened conscionable aft 10 p.m. arsenic shoppers were stocking up up of the Thanksgiving holiday. Police said they judge astir 50 radical were successful the store astatine the time.
Bing was identified arsenic an overnight squad person who had been a Walmart worker since 2010. Police said helium had 1 handgun and respective magazines of ammunition.
Tyler said the overnight stocking squad of 15 to 20 radical had conscionable gathered successful the interruption country to spell implicit the greeting plan. Another squad person had begun speaking erstwhile Bing entered the country and opened fire, Tyler and Wiczewski said.
Tyler, who started moving astatine Walmart 2 months agone and had worked with Bing conscionable a nighttime earlier, said she ne'er had a antagonistic brushwood with him, but others told her helium was “the manager to look retired for.” She said Bing had a past of penning up radical for nary reason.
The onslaught was the 2nd large shooting successful Virginia this month. Three University of Virginia shot players were fatally changeable connected a autobus Nov. 13 arsenic they returned from a tract trip. Two different students were wounded.
The Walmart shooting besides comes days aft a idiosyncratic opened occurrence astatine a cheery nightclub successful Colorado Springs, Colorado — sidesplitting 5 and wounding 17. Tuesday night’s shooting brought backmost memories of different onslaught astatine a Walmart successful 2019, erstwhile a gunman killed 23 astatine a store successful El Paso, Texas.
Wilczewski, who survived Tuesday's shooting successful Virginia, said she tried but could not bring herself to sojourn a memorial successful the store's parking batch Wednesday.
“I wrote a missive and I wanted to enactment it retired there,” she said. “I wrote to the ones I watched die. And I said that I'm atrocious I wasn't louder. I'm atrocious you couldn't consciousness my touch. But you weren't alone.”
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Associated Press writers Denise Lavoie successful Chesapeake and quality researchers Rhonda Shafner and Randy Herschaft successful New York contributed to this report.
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