According to a witness, the Walmart shooter appeared to target specific individuals

Flowers and balloons have been placed near the scene of a mass shooting at a Walmart, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022, in Chesapeake, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

A witness who was present when the shooting began stated that the Walmart supervisor who fatally shot and killed six co-workers in Virginia appeared to target individuals and continued to fire at some victims after they were already shot and appeared to be dead.

Tuesday night, according to Jessica Wilczewski, employees were gathered in a store break room to begin their midnight shift when team leader Andre Bing entered and began firing a revolver. Wilczewski stated that while another witness described Bing as shooting erratically, she saw him target certain individuals.

Wilczewski told The Associated Press on Thursday, based on the man's behavior, that he was hunting. "By the way he viewed people's features and conducted himself, he was selecting individuals."

She reported seeing him shoot at individuals who were already on the ground.

She said, "What I do know is that he ensured that whoever he wanted dead got killed." "He returned and shot already-deceased dead victims. To make sure."

Wilczewski stated that she had only worked at the business for five days and was unaware of who Bing got along with or had conflicts with. She speculated that the reason he spared her was that she was a new hire.

She reported that when the shooting began, a coworker seated next to her pushed her beneath the table to conceal herself. She reported that Bing once instructed her to stop hiding under the table. When he realized who she was, he urged her to go home. She stated that she gently stood up and then fled the store.

Chesapeake is a community of around 250,000 people near the coast of Virginia. Police are attempting to uncover a motive, as former coworkers struggle to make sense of the rampage.

According to some of Bing's former colleagues, he had a reputation for being an aggressive, if not hostile, a manager who once 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 coworker conversations, "we would say 'work is overtaking my life'" Sinclair recounted Bing's response on Thursday: "Yeah, I don't have a social life anyway."

According to Sinclair, he and Bing did not get along. Sinclair stated that Bing was notorious for being "verbally aggressive" to staff and was not well-liked. However, Bing was occasionally ridiculed and not always treated decently.

There is no way to know what he may have been thinking. "You never know whether someone truly does not have a support group," added Sinclair.

Janice Strausburg, who worked at Walmart for 13 years before departing in June and knew Bing, found him to be, on balance, a rather typical person.

She stated that Bing could be both "grumpy" and "calm." He made folks laugh and informed Strasburg that he enjoyed dancing. When he declined her invitation to church, he stated that his mother had been a minister.

Strausburg believed Bing's irritability was attributable to the stresses of his job. Additionally, he once informed her that he had "anger issues" and would "get the bosses in trouble."

She did not anticipate this.

"I believe he had mental health concerns," Strausburg stated on Thursday. What could it be else?

Tuesday night's bloodshed in Chesapeake was the second high-profile mass shooting in the United States in the past four days. When authorities arrived at the business in the state's second-largest city, Bing was already deceased. According to authorities, he presumably shot himself.

The police have identified the victims as Brian Pendleton, 38; Kellie Pyle, 52; Lorenzo Gamble, 43; Randy Blevins, 70; and Tyneka Johnson, 22, of neighboring Portsmouth. They reported that among the deceased was a 16-year-old boy whose identity was suppressed due to his age.

A Walmart spokeswoman confirmed through email that each victim was an employee of the company.

Krystal Kawabata, a spokesman for the FBI's field office in Norfolk, Virginia, acknowledged that the agency is aiding authorities with the investigation. However, she referred all inquiries to the Chesapeake Police Department, which is the primary investigative agency.

Briana Tyler, another Walmart employee, stated that Bing appeared to shoot at random.

"He was simply firing throughout the entire place. "It didn't matter who he hit," Walmart employee Briana Tyler told the AP on Wednesday.

Six individuals were also injured in the incident, which occurred at 10 p.m. as shoppers stocked up for the Thanksgiving weekend. According to the police, approximately fifty people were in the store at the time of the incident.

Bing, age 31, was identified as a leader of the evening shift at Walmart, where he has worked since 2010. Police reported that he possessed one weapon and multiple ammunition magazines.

Tyler reported that 15 to 20 members of the overnight stocking team had just convened in the break room to discuss the morning strategy. According to Tyler and Wilczewski, another team leader had begun speaking when Bing entered the room and opened fire.

Tyler, who began working at Walmart two months ago and had worked with Bing the night before, said that she had never had an unpleasant interaction with him, but others had warned her that he was "the manager to avoid." She stated that Bing had a history of writing up people without cause.

It was the second significant shooting in Virginia this month. On November 13, three football players from the University of Virginia were fatally shot on a bus as they returned from a field trip. Two further pupils were injured.

The Walmart massacre occurred days after a gunman opened fire on a gay bar in Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing five and wounding seventeen. Tuesday night's massacre brought to mind a 2019 incident at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, in which a gunman killed 23 people.

Wilczewski, who survived Tuesday's massacre in Virginia, stated that she attempted to visit the memorial in the store's parking lot on Wednesday but was unable to do so.

She stated, "I drafted a letter and intended to distribute it." "I wrote to those whose deaths I observed. And I apologized for not being louder. I regret that you did not feel my touch. However, you were not alone.

Publish : 2022-11-25 08:57:00

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