Suspect among seven killed in Virginia Walmart shooting, police say

Seven people, including the suspect, were killed in a shooting at a Walmart store in Chesapeake, Va., on Tuesday night, police said. At 10:12 p.m. local time, officers were dispatched to the threatened situation at the Walmart He Supercenter, Chesapeake Police spokesman Leo Kosinski told reporters at the scene.

“During the next 30 to 45 minutes, we were able to find multiple fatalities and multiple injuries,” Kosinski said.

Early Wednesday morning, police confirmed officers had completed a search of the store and all victims had been found. However, police said the total death toll, including the suspect, was seven.

The exact number of injured has not been confirmed, but victims were confirmed to have been taken to several regional hospitals, one of which was treating five injured people late Tuesday night. I was.

According to Kosinski, the shooter is believed to have acted alone, and the circumstances of the individual’s death were not immediately provided.

The shooting was believed to have occurred inside the store, but the body of at least one person was found outside, according to Walmart’s website.

Chesapeake is located in the Hampton Roads coastal region of southern Virginia and includes the cities of Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

Cocinsi said a “reunion location” had been set up at the Chesapeake Conference Center, and the city’s Twitter account was “for immediate family members or emergency contacts who may have been in the building.”

This is the second major mass shooting in the United States in recent days.five people dead and 17 more injured Early Sunday morning when a suspect opened fire at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Virginia Senator Mark Warner murmured early Wednesday morning.

Walmart issued a statement saying the company was “shocked by this tragic event” and that it was “praying for the people, communities and employees affected.”

The retail giant said it is “working closely with law enforcement and is focused on supporting its employees.”

Virginia Senator Louise Lucas, a Democrat who represents the Chesapeake area, which includes the Chesapeake, said in a tweet, “I am heartbroken that America’s latest mass shooting happened at my neighborhood Walmart.”

“I will not rest until we find a solution to end the epidemic of gun violence in this country that has claimed so many lives,” she said.

Virginia Rep. Bobby Scott said, “Tragically, our community is suffering from another senseless incident of gun violence as families gather for Thanksgiving. is.

There have been more than 600 mass shootings in the United States this year, with at least 36 fatalities, according to data compiled by the Gun Violence Archive.

Alan Fox, a criminologist at Boston’s Northeastern University who has been compiling data on shootings in the United States for decades, reports the same numbers, and even before the incident at Walmart in Chesapeake, 2022. He said it made the year a record year for such attacks.

“I have studied genocide for over 40 years, and I am convinced that there has never been a year with so many murders.” Fox said in an article published Monday by The Northeastern.following the Colorado shootings.

Fox noted an “unprecedented surge” in early October alone, saying there had been 13 deadly mass shootings during that time.

“This is an average of about two mass shootings per week,” Fox said.