The gunman who opened fire at a Virginia Walmart has been identified as Andre Bing, a manager at the store, who killed six co-workers before taking his own life.
A Facebook Live video apparently made by a Walmart employee had been circulating online showing a co-worker whom she calls “Andre.”
The young man is seen joking with the workers before he walks away when the woman points her camera at him. It was unclear when the footage was shot.
Chesapeake Police Chief Mark Solesky said the gunman killed six co-workers before killing himself with a handgun.
The police department said three individuals, including the shooter, were found deceased in the break room of the store while one dead victim was located toward the front of the store. They added that three other victims were transported to local hospitals for further treatment but succumbed to their injuries.
“There is no clear motive at this time,” Solesky said, adding that he had no indication that the gunman was known to law enforcement before the shooting. He also could not confirm that all the victims were Walmart employees.
An apparent store employee described the horror on Facebook Live and first identified the assailant as a manager.
“He blew his brains out and everything. He killed the girl in there and everything. He came in and started spraying. I’m sorry for the victims,” said the employee, a man reportedly named Kevin Harper.
“I just left out of the break room, manager come up in there, started capping people up in there, started shooting, bro. The manager came in, started dumping, man. As soon as I left out the break room, he went in there, man … that s— wild,” he said.
Bing’s identity was later confirmed by Walmart in a statement by the company that said: “We are focused on doing everything we can to support our associates and their families at this time. The alleged shooter has been identified as Andre Bing. We can confirm he was a Walmart associate.”
Earlier Wednesday, police raided the home where Bing was believed to have lived, breaking down the door.
Another employee, Jessie Wilczewski, told Norfolk TV station WAVY that the shooter pointed his gun at her and told her to go home as she hid under a table.
“It didn’t even look real until you could feel the … ‘pow-pow-pow,’ you can feel it,” Wilczewski told the outlet. “I couldn’t hear it at first because I guess it was so loud, I could feel it.”
