Six people killed by employee in Chesapeake, Virginia, Walmart shooting, police say; suspect also dead - CBS News

An worker of a Walmart store successful Chesapeake, Virginia, opened occurrence connected colleagues Tuesday evening, sidesplitting six radical and wounding 4 much astatine the retail outlet earlier turning the weapon connected himself, the city's Police Chief Mark Solesky said Wednesday morning.

Officers were dispatched to an progressive menace concern astatine the Walmart Supercenter astatine 10:12 p.m. section time, Chesapeake constabulary spokesperson Leo Kosinski told reporters astatine the country Tuesday evening. Solesky said officers were connected the country wrong 2 minutes, entered the store 2 minutes aft that and wrong conscionable astir an hr they had cleared the store and located each of the victims.

The fishy was besides recovered dormant and constabulary were not seeking anyone other successful transportation with the shooting.

Solesky said the suspected worker was recovered dormant of a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound. He said a pistol was utilized successful the shooting. The fishy was not identified, pending notification of his adjacent of kin, according to the constabulary chief.

The FBI's bureau successful Norfolk, Virginia, confirmed that the bureau was providing assistance to the Chesapeake Police Department, which was the pb bureau connected the investigation.

Four further victims were inactive being treated connected Wednesday greeting successful country hospitals, but the quality and grade of their injuries were not clear, Solesky said.

Law enforcement, including the FBI, enactment the country of a wide shooting astatine a Walmart, November 23, 2022, successful Chesapeake, Virginia. Alex Brandon/AP

The shooting occurred wrong the store, Kosinksi said Tuesday evening, though astatine slightest 1 assemblage was recovered outside. According to Walmart's website, the store was unfastened to customers astatine the clip of the shooting.

A antheral who said helium was a shopper described the country successful cellphone video, CBS News main nationalist affairs and Justice analogous Jeff Pegues reports.

"We heard respective shots wrong … and each ran out," Jeromy Basham said. "There was a idiosyncratic down that's inactive down retired front."

Another antheral said successful a video helium was among the Walmart employees wrong the store erstwhile the shooting began, Pegues reports.

"I virtually walked retired the interruption room, right? And arsenic soon as, astir apt about, nary aboriginal than 5 minutes" determination were gunshots, Kevin Harper said.

Chesapeake Mayor Rick West released a statement aboriginal Wednesday greeting saying helium was "devastated by the senseless enactment of violence" and lauding archetypal responders.

West told CBS News that reasoning astir however to respond to wide shootings has go portion of the occupation for metropolis leaders passim the country.

"The archetypal feeling was thing but dread due to the fact that present it was, I knew what we'd beryllium having to look and what those mediocre families are going to beryllium facing for years to come," West said.

A constabulary conveyance is parked extracurricular a Walmart store successful Chesapeake, Virginia, aboriginal connected November 23, 2022, aft a wide shooting that near 7 radical dead, including the suspect. Nicole Sganga/CBS News

Chesapeake is located successful confederate Virginia's coastal Hampton Roads region, which includes the cities of Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

Kosinksi said a "reunification site" was established astatine the Chesapeake Conference Center, which a metropolis Twitter relationship said was "for contiguous household members oregon the exigency interaction of those who whitethorn person been successful the building."

The incidental was the 2nd large wide shooting successful the U.S. successful conscionable the past fewer days. Five radical were killed and different 17 wounded erstwhile a fishy opened occurrence successful an LGBTQ nightclub successful Colorado Springs, Colorado, successful the aboriginal greeting hours Sunday.

"Sickened by reports of yet different wide shooting, this clip astatine a Walmart successful Chesapeake," Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia tweeted aboriginal Wednesday morning. 

Virginia's caller Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, besides weighed in, saying: "Our hearts interruption with the assemblage of Chesapeake this morning," successful a tweet and adding that "heinous acts of unit person nary spot successful our communities."

Walmart provided a connection saying the institution was "shocked astatine this tragic event" and "praying for those impacted, the assemblage and our associates."

The retail elephantine said it was "working intimately with instrumentality enforcement, and we are focused connected supporting our associates."

Virginia authorities Senator Louise Lucas, a Democrat who represents the Chesapeake portion that encompasses Chesapeake, said successful a tweet that she was "heartbroken that America's latest wide shooting took spot successful a Walmart successful my district."

"I volition not remainder until we find the solutions to extremity this weapon unit epidemic successful our state that has taken truthful galore lives," she said.

"Tragically, our assemblage is suffering from yet different incidental of senseless weapon unit conscionable arsenic families are gathering for Thanksgiving," said U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia.  

According to information compiled by the Gun Violence Archive, determination person been much than 600 wide shootings successful the United States this year, with astatine slightest 36 resulting successful fatalities.

A criminologist astatine Northeastern University successful Boston, Alan Fox, who has compiled information connected shootings successful the U.S. for decades, reported the aforesaid figure, which helium said had made 2022 a grounds twelvemonth for specified attacks adjacent anterior to the incidental astatine the Walmart successful Chesapeake.

"I've been studying wide killings for implicit 40 years and I americium rather assured that determination has ne'er been a twelvemonth wherever we've had truthful many," said Fox successful an nonfiction published Monday by Northeastern, successful the aftermath of the Colorado shooting.

Fox noted "an unprecedented surge" since the opening of October alone, during which clip helium said determination had been 13 fatal wide shootings.

"That's an mean of astir 2 wide shootings per week," Fox said.

Alex Sundby contributed reporting.