The gunman in the tragic shooting at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia, lawfully purchased the weapon he used hours before opening fire on his coworkers, according to municipal officials.
Chesapeake officials say Andre Bing, 31, purchased the 9 millimeter pistol from a shop on Tuesday morning and killed six people that evening. In the store’s break room, where the shooting occurred, police discovered the gunman dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Friday, officials stated that the shooter lacked a criminal record.
Police have named the victims as 16-year-old Fernando Chavez-Barron, 38-year-old Brian Pendleton, 52-year-old Kellie Pyle, 43-year-old Lorenzo Gamble, and 70-year-old Randy Blevins, all of Chesapeake, and 22-year-old Tyneka Johnson of neighboring Portsmouth. Due to his age, police first suppressed Chavez-identity Barron’s before releasing it Friday morning.
A spokesman for Walmart verified that all of the casualties were company employees.
City officials also said on Friday that a forensic examination of the shooter’s phone revealed a “Death Note” including meandering explanations of apparent grievances with his coworkers.
On November 23, 2022, FBI officers are spotted outside a Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia, following a mass shooting. Reuters/Jay Paul
Some of the gunman’s coworkers reported that he had a reputation for being an assertive, if not hostile, boss who acknowledged to having “anger issues.” However, he was also able to make people laugh and appeared to be coping with the regular demands of the workplace.
“I don’t believe he had many people he could rely on in his personal life,” said Nathan Sinclair, who worked at Walmart for nearly a year before quitting last month.
During conversations among coworkers, “We would say things like, ‘work consumes my life.’ And he would respond, “Yeah, I don’t have a social life anyhow” “Thursday, Sinclair recollected.
Sinclair reported that he and the shooter did not get along. Sinclair stated that he was notorious for being “verbally aggressive” to staff and was not especially well-liked. However, the gunman was occasionally ridiculed and not always handled kindly.
“Nobody knows what he may have been thinking… You never know whether a person truly does not have a support network “Sinclair stated.
Janice Strausburg, who worked at Walmart for 13 years until leaving in June, found the gunman to be, on balance, a rather typical person.
She stated that the gunman may be either “grumpy” or “calm.” He made folks laugh and informed Strasburg that he enjoyed dancing. When he refused her invitation to church, he stated that his mother had been a minister.
Strausburg believed the gunman’s irritability was a result of occupational difficulties. In addition, he reportedly informed her he had “anger issues” and was going to “get the bosses in trouble.”
She never anticipated this, however.
“I believe he had mental health concerns,” Strausburg stated on Thursday. What could it be else?
»The Walmart shooter purchased a firearm hours before the attack and left a “death note.”«