Suspect among seven fatalities in shooting at Virginia Walmart, police say - CBS News

An representation taken from video changeable by a civilian shows constabulary connected the country of a shooting astatine a Walmart store successful Chesapeake, Virginia, November 22, 2022. Jeromy Basham via Storyful

A Tuesday nighttime shooting astatine a Walmart store successful Chesapeake, Virginia, has near 7 radical dead, including the suspected shooter, constabulary said. 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 scene.

"Over the people of the adjacent 30, 45 minutes, we were capable to find aggregate fatalities and aggregate injured parties," Kosinski said.

Early Wednesday morning, constabulary confirmed that officers had finished searching the store and that each victims had been located. A connection posted connected the metropolis of Chesapeake's Twitter account, which had antecedently conveyed confirmed accusation from the constabulary department, cited the constabulary arsenic putting the wide decease toll astatine seven, including the suspect. 

The nonstop fig of radical wounded was not confirmed, but victims were transported to aggregate country hospitals and 1 confirmed precocious Tuesday evening that it was treating 5 radical for unspecified injuries.

The shooter was believed to person acted alone, Kosinski said, and the circumstances of the individual's decease were not instantly provided. 

The shooting was believed to person occurred wrong the store, Kosinksi said, 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. 

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" had been 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."

This marks 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," Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia tweeted aboriginal Wednesday morning. 

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.