Six Thanksgiving Shoppers killed in Walmart Shooting
Six people were shot and killed inside a Walmart in Chesapeake, Va., on Tuesday night, the authorities said, shattering the routine of residents who were picking up supplies for Thanksgiving during a busy holiday week.
Susanna Jenkins
Six shoppers were killed and several injured in Virginia last night when a gunman open-fired in a Walmart store at 8:40pm, police sources have said. It is believed that the gunman was also found dead on the scene.
We are shocked at this tragic event at our Chesapeake, Virginia, store. - A Walmart spokesperson said.
The Walmart supercenter where the shooting occurred is one of several in southeastern Virginia. It includes a grocery store, a pharmacy, a bank, a bakery and a deli. Leo Kosinski, a spokesman with the Chesapeake Police Department, told reporters that the Walmart was “very, very large,” although he did not know the square footage.
After the shooting, photos and video from outside the Walmart showed officers huddling around the entrance of the building on Sam’s Circle, with numerous police vehicles in the large parking lot of the store, which is off Battlefield Boulevard. A large inflatable Santa Claus stood outside the store.
It was the second high-profile mass shooting in the United States in three days, after five people were killed at an L.G.B.T. Q. club in Colorado Springs over the weekend.
The identity of the gunman has not been determined or released at this time.
