CNN –
The manager of a Virginia Walmart who killed six people and himself and injured several others in a massacre Tuesday night has been identified as Andre Bing, 31, the city of Chesapeake said on Twitter.
“He was armed with a handgun and had several magazines on his person,” the city said.
Bing was an “overnight team leader” and had been employed at Walmart since 2010, the company said in a statement.
Authorities were working Wednesday to identify more witnesses to the violence and were also looking into the shooter’s background for information about what might have motivated the attack, police said in a news release.
At least 50 people were inside the Walmart when the violence erupted, police said. Some of them have begun to publicly share their accounts of how a quiet night turned into a horrific tragedy.
The violence marks another mass shooting in a place traditionally considered safe: from schools to hospitals to stores.
Just 170 miles west of Chesapeake, a 22-year-old University of Virginia student in Charlottesville allegedly opened fire on other students this month, killing three on a bus returning to campus after a field trip to Washington, D.C.
Last weekend, a 22-year-old man shot and killed five people at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colo., and injured 19 others, authorities said.
The United States has experienced more than 600 mass shootings so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Both the nonprofit and CNN define mass shootings as those in which four or more people are shot, not including the shooter.
The deadly attack happened around 10:12 p.m. Tuesday, less than an hour before the Walmart Supercenter closed.
Employee Kevin Harper said a colleague entered the break room and started shooting.
“I just left the rec room … (the gunman) starts picking on people in there,” Harper said in a Facebook Live video. The video is no longer on her Facebook page, but has been re-shared on social media.
“He got in there and started spraying,” Harper said. “I feel sorry for the victims.”
Four people injured in the shooting remained hospitalized Wednesday morning, Chesapeake Police Chief Mark Solesky said. At least two were in critical condition, said Dr. Michael Hooper, vice president and chief medical officer at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
Investigators swept the store overnight Wednesday, looking for victims or people who may have been hiding, Chesapeake police said.
“Three individuals, including the shooter, were located deceased in the break room of the store,” the city of Chesapeake tweeted. “One victim was found dead at the front of the store. Three other victims were taken to local hospitals for further treatment but succumbed to their injuries.”
Joetta Jeffery said her mother, Betsy Umphlett, texted her from the store saying they wanted bullets.
“I’m crying, I’m shaking,” Jeffery told CNN. “I was just talking to her about buying turkeys for Thanksgiving, then this text came through.”
Jeffery said her mother is not hurt, but traumatized by the tragedy.
A reunification center was set up at the Chesapeake Conference Center for families seeking details about loved ones who were in the store. Municipal authorities have asked that only relatives or emergency contacts of those inside visit the center.
John Furner, president and CEO of Walmart USA, said the mass shooting in Chesapeake was exceptionally tragic because the shooter was an employee.
“We feel tragedies like this personally and deeply. But this one is especially painful as we’ve learned the gunman was a Walmart associate,” Furner said in a statement. “The entire Walmart family is heartbroken. Our hearts and prayers go out to those affected, and we are grateful for the actions of first responders.”
The Norfolk division of the FBI said the agency is assisting the Chesapeake Police Department in the investigation.
Authorities are asking anyone with information about the shooting to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.