New details: Chesapeake Walmart employee opened fire in break room, killing 6

CHESAPEAKE — The Walmart on Sam’s Circle would have been filled Wednesday with last-minute Thanksgiving cooks and people dashing in for a sweet potato pie from the deli.

Instead, the parking lot was sparse as police, Walmart employees, and concerned residents drove by and dropped off balloons and flowers for a makeshift memorial, or just paused and stared in disbelief at the site where a 31-year-old manager, Andre Bing, shot and killed six employees, then himself late Tuesday night.

Police say Bing opened fire with a pistol in the break room around 10 p.m.

The shooter and two other individuals were found dead in the break room, the city of Chesapeake said in a news release. Another victim was found dead near the front of the store, and three others were hospitalized but later succumbed to their injuries.

An additional three people were shot and remained hospitalized Wednesday, said Chesapeake Police Det. Dave Weir. Two of those people were critically injured and one person was in good condition. Another four people sustained injuries that were not related to gunfire and they have all been released from area hospitals.

It’s not clear how many victims were employees of the Walmart and whether any were shoppers.

Janis Strausburg, 48, of Chesapeake, worked maintenance at Walmart until June but is now a Lyft driver. She was dropping someone off at the store shortly after the shooting ended.

She said the timing coincided with a shift change, during which a large group of staff would be meeting in the break room or in a back hallway area. The area is also where employees clock in and out, Strausburg said.

“I saw police dragging a body, they were doing CPR on him. A woman fainted and the woman next to her was screaming we need an ambulance,” she said. “Then I saw maybe five cops went in the store and they very quickly came out.”

Stausburg used to speak with Bing frequently, she said, even inviting him to church before they had a falling out when he began to “gossip” about her, which was common for him, she said.

“He was always grumpy, always talking about calling and getting the managers in trouble,” Strausburg said, though she couldn’t remember what he intended to get the managers in trouble for.

“He was always negative.”

Employee Briana Tyler said workers gathered in the store’s break room as they typically did ahead of their shifts.

“I looked up, and my manager just opened the door and he just opened fire,” she told ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

A database run by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University that tracks mass killings in America going back to 2006 shows this year has been especially violent.

The U.S. has now had 40 mass killings in 2022, compared with 45 for all of 2019. The database defines a mass killing as at least four people killed, not including the killer.

This was the third in Virginia in the past two weeks including three University of Virginia football players who were shot and killed on Nov. 14 and a Chesterfield mother and three children who were murdered Nov. 18. Tuesday’s Walmart shooting left five people injured and treated at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.

Whitney Cruse, spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Washington Field Division, said around four or five ATF agents arrived at the scene following the shooting at around 11 p.m. Tuesday . Cruse said agents “traced” a single firearm found at the scene, but did not respond to questions about where the firearm came from.

The Walmart is on Sam’s Circle, off North Battlefield Boulevard and just off I-64. The store will be closed while the investigation is ongoing.

By late Wednesday morning, plainclothes and uniformed Chesapeake police officers, along with an ATF agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, were at Bing’s two-story, tan-colored house in the Eva Gardens section of Crestwood.

The house’s front and storm doors had been smashed in.

The neighborhood was quiet except for the occasional rustle of the wind through the trees and the hum from nearby traffic on I-464. One man living nearby said he did not know Bing; and others declined to speak with reporters.

Chesapeake police set up a reunification center where about 50 people were gathered at 5 a.m. Wednesday awaiting news about loved ones, said Sgt. Rob Watson, who was parked by the entrance of the center Wednesday morning. He said most of the families of the injured were reunited with their loved ones before sunrise.

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The shooting occurred at 10:12 p.m. Tuesday and police were on scene by 10:14.

Investigators then said are not aware of anything in the shooter’s background that would have indicated cause for concern.

Chesapeake Police Chief Mark Solesky said Wednesday that the man’s name has not been released because next of kin have not been notified.

But two sources with knowledge of the investigation confirmed Wednesday the shooter is Andre Bing. Police were stationed Wednesday morning outside the Chesapeake home that property records said Bing purchased in 2019.

Family began gathering at the hospital and a family reunification center set up in Chesapeake. Just after 2 a.m., a man was escorted out of the emergency room after he began wailing and shouting. loved one had died. “They killed my brother!” he yelled as he ran away.

At the Sam’s Club in the same shopping center, people gathered in the early morning. Walmart worker Joseph Strempski said he was in the maintenance closet when he heard the gunfire. He then saw people running and ran with them.

In a 30-minute time span, police from across multiple agencies responded. FBI agents could be seen at the scene, and ATF agents had been en route.

Walmart issued a statement via Twitter expressing shock over the deadly shooting.

“We’re praying for those impacted, the community and our associates,” the company said. “We’re working closely with law enforcement, and we are focused on supporting our associates.”

Among those gathered outside very early Wednesday morning was Camille Buggs, a former Walmart employee. She said she came to the conference center to try and find some information about some of her former coworkers, whom she still considers family but had not been able to reach since the shooting.

“You always say you don’t think it would happen in your town, in your neighborhood, in your store — in your favorite store and that’s the thing that has me shocked,” said Buggs, 58, of Chesapeake.

Buggs, who now works at nearby Greenbrier Mall, said she and her current coworkers would typically stop by the Walmart on their way home for snacks or food. But they opted not to Tuesday night, thinking about the long work week still ahead. It was only once she got home that she heard the news.

In the confusion that followed the shooting Wednesday morning, Chesapeake police received a report of an armed person at a Target store which turned out to be false, Weir said.

”I think it’s because of the nature of what just happened, some people just got freaked out,” Weir said. “There was no gun, there were no shots, nothing like that. People are a little uneasy.”

[ Related: Biden, Virginia leaders react to mass shooting at Chesapeake Walmart ]

Local politicians shared reactions on Twitter to the deadly mass shooting.

“I am absolutely heartbroken that America’s latest mass shooting took place in a Walmart in my district in Chesapeake, Virginia tonight. I will not rest until we find the solutions to end this gun violence epidemic in our country that has taken so many lives,” said state Sen. Louise Lucas, a Democrat.

“Enough is enough,” said U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria, a Democrat representing the 2nd District.

Chesapeake Mayor Rick West called for prayers for the victims, their loved ones and their coworkers, and expressed gratitude for the quick action by first responders.

“I am devastated by the senseless act of violence that took place late last night in our City,” West said in a statement. “Chesapeake is a tightknit community and we are all shaken by this news. Together, we will support each other throughout this time.”

The Associated Press and staff reporters Daniel Berti and Jane Harper contributed to this report.

Caitlyn Burchett, 727-267-6059, caitlyn.burchett@virginiamedia.com

Ian Munro, 757-776-7604, ian.munro@virginiamedia.com

Gavin Stone, gavin.stone@virginiamedia.com