The youngest of 6 victims in a deadly mass shooting at a Virginia Walmart has been identified as authorities learn more about the gunman - CNN

CNN  — 

The youngest unfortunate successful this week’s mass shooting wrong a Walmart successful Chesapeake, Virginia, is simply a 16-year-old worker who reportedly utilized his archetypal paycheck to bargain his parent a acquisition earlier helium was killed 2 days up of Thanksgiving.

Fernando Chavez-Barron, on with 5 different coworkers, was shot and killed Tuesday nighttime when a manager opened occurrence successful an worker interruption country during a gathering earlier sidesplitting himself, according to a societal media station from the city of Chesapeake that publically identified the teen connected Friday.

As authorities enactment to larn much astir the gunman, including publicly releasing a note recovered connected his telephone aft the shooting, friends of the 16-year-old killed are successful mourning.

Those who knew Fernando told CNN affiliate WTKR that helium had conscionable started moving astatine Walmart and utilized his archetypal paycheck to acquisition a acquisition for his mother.

A person of Fernando’s, Joshua Trejo-Alvarado, said he’s inactive successful disbelief that he’s gone.

“I’m retired of words, and speechless that it was him,” Trejo-Alvarado told WTKR. “I was hoping everything was a imagination until today. I privation helium was inactive lasting present with me. I prayed yesterday nighttime with my full household for him. We got flowers and candles astatine location for him, too.”

Trejo-Alvarado texted and called Fernando but didn’t person a response, helium said. Later, helium called his friend’s brother, who told him Fernando didn’t survive, WTKR reported.

“He would ever beryllium outgoing with anybody helium met. He was nice,” Trejo-Alvarado said.

Five others astatine the Walmart were killed, including Randy Blevins, 70, Lorenzo Gamble, 43, Tyneka Johnson, 22, Brian Pendleton, 38, and Kellie Pyle, 52.

On Thanksgiving Day, the assemblage gathered astatine a increasing makeshift memorial extracurricular the store to wage respects for the lives mislaid successful yet different wide shooting that turned a staple of regular beingness into a gruesome transgression scene. Two radical were inactive hospitalized, with 1 successful captious condition, the metropolis said Thursday.

In grant of the victims, Chesapeake metropolis officials are readying a vigil Monday astatine 6 p.m. successful City Park.

Also connected Monday, metropolis assembly leaders volition clasp a peculiar gathering confirming an exigency declaration that “will escaped up backing to enactment recovery” aft the shooting, according to the city’s Twitter relationship Friday. The station did not specify however the backing would beryllium used.

Since the shooting, authorities person been trying to find a motive for the abrupt eruption of gunfire successful a workplace 2 days earlier Thanksgiving. Officials connected Friday released details of writings from the shooter’s telephone obtained aft the tragedy.

The writings – titled “Death note” – recovered connected the shooter’s telephone contained grievances against radical successful his life, including immoderate coworkers, according to the city’s Twitter relationship Friday.

The enactment mentions God, the beatified tone and however the writer felt helium was mocked by his “associates” – a occupation rubric Walmart uses for immoderate of its employees.

“The associates gave maine evil twisted grins, mocked maine and celebrated my down autumn the past day. That’s wherefore they endure the aforesaid destiny arsenic me,” the enactment says.

“I privation I could person saved everyone from myself,” the enactment continues. “My God forgive maine for what I’m going to do.”

The metropolis released the enactment successful a bid of tweets, redacting the names of those mentioned. None of the victims successful the shooting were among the redacted names, constabulary said.

Asked whether the gunman had complained astir his colleagues, a connection from Walmart said, “There is thing that tin warrant taking guiltless lives. Our absorption continues to beryllium connected the families who are grieving and supporting our associates done this hard time.”

The weapon utilized to transportation retired the killings is simply a 9 mm weapon, which the gunman legally purchased the time of the shooting, the metropolis said.

A hunt of the gunman’s location turned up a container of ammunition and “various items successful notation to the 9 mm handgun (box, receipt, different paperwork),” the metropolis said successful a tweet.

The shooter, who has been identified arsenic 31-year-old Andre Bing, has been described by coworkers arsenic idiosyncratic who antecedently displayed unusual and threatening behavior.

Shaundrayia Reese, who worked with Bing from 2015 to 2018, described him arsenic a loner.

“He was ever saying the authorities was watching him. He didn’t similar societal media and helium kept achromatic portion connected his telephone camera. Everyone ever thought thing was incorrect with him,” Reese said.

Another erstwhile coworker, Joshua Johnson, worked astatine Walmart until 2019 and said Bing had made threats.

“He said if helium ever got fired from his occupation helium would retaliate and radical would retrieve who helium was,” Johnson said.

Reese and Johnson said they didn’t study immoderate concerns astir Bing’s behaviour to management.

Employees astatine the Walmart had conscionable clocked successful for their overnight displacement Tuesday erstwhile they saw a manager lasting successful the doorway, pointing a weapon astatine them successful the interruption room. But the disturbing representation hadn’t acceptable successful for immoderate employees, including Briana Tyler, who had conscionable been hired astatine the store.

“It inactive hadn’t truly kicked successful that it was real. Because I was reasoning it was similar a simulation benignant of thing, similar this is what we bash if we person an progressive shooter,” Tyler told CNN. “And the crushed wherefore I deliberation it was that was due to the fact that I recognized his face.”

But past world acceptable successful erstwhile she saw her colleagues getting shot.

“He conscionable had a blank look connected his look and helium conscionable virtually conscionable looked astir the country and conscionable changeable and determination were radical conscionable dropping to the floor,” Tyler said. “Everybody was screaming, gasping. He conscionable walked distant aft that and conscionable continued passim the store and conscionable kept shooting.”

As the shooter walked distant from the interruption room, worker Jessie Wilczewski hid nether a table, she told CNN. She described seeing immoderate of her coworkers connected the level oregon lying connected chairs – immoderate apt dead.

When the shooter returned to the interruption room, helium told her to get retired from nether the table, Wilczewski said.

“He said, ‘Jessie, spell home,’” said Wilczewski, who’s a parent to a 15-month-old child.

As she got up and started to leave, she tried not to look astatine her coworkers – but the dependable of humor hitting the level haunts her, she said.

“The dependable of the droplets, da-da-da-da, it replays and replays and replays,” she told CNN earlier this week. “Of however overmuch humor was coming disconnected the antithetic chairs – it was making a rhythm. And it was 1 of the astir disturbing things – I will, I think, volition ne'er fto spell of that.”

Wilczewski said the trauma she witnessed stuck with her aft fleeing.

“Never, ever successful my beingness would I ever privation this upon anybody,” Wilczewski said. “And it’s horrible due to the fact that it doesn’t stop. It doesn’t halt replaying erstwhile you permission the scene. It doesn’t halt hurting arsenic much. It doesn’t stop, and it sucks due to the fact that you truly privation it to. You conscionable privation that small spot of – that you had earlier each this.”