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President Joe Biden called Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin Tuesday, the White House said, and offered him federal assistance in the wake of the Chesapeake Walmart shooting.
Earlier Biden sent condolences to families who lost loved ones in the shooting just two days before Thanksgiving and called for more action to restrict gun access in the U.S. following two mass shootings in one week.
The president noted how families will be mourning on ‘one of our most cherished holidays’ rather than celebrating with their families.
‘[B]ecause of yet another horrific and senseless act of violence, there are now even more tables across the country that will have empty seats this Thanksgiving,’ Biden wrote in a statement on the latest shooting Tuesday evening.
Biden is spending the Thanksgiving break with his family on Nantucket.
An unidentified gunman opened fire in the breakroom of a Chesapeake, Virginia Walmart at 10:10 p.m. Tuesday – killing six.
The first victim of the shooting can be named as 22-year-old store worker Tyneka Johnson.
Her family confirmed the death on Wednesday morning, after frantically appealing for information about her safety as news of the shooting emerged last night.
The tragedy led Biden to call for more action on gun reform after praising his own push on the matter earlier this year.
President Joe Biden sent condolences to families who will ‘have empty seats this Thanksgiving’ after a Virginia mass shooting at a Walmart left six dead
Law enforcement work the scene of a mass shooting at a Walmart, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022, in Chesapeake, Va. A store employee shot six people dead then killed himself last night in a pre-Thanksgiving rampage
‘This year, I signed the most significant gun reform in a generation, but that is not nearly enough. We must take greater action,’ he wrote in his Wednesday morning statement.
Biden’s statement was released just hours after landing in Nantucket, Massachusetts for his Thanksgiving vacation with his family. Pictured disembarking Air Force One Tuesday evening were the president, first lady Jill, son Hunter, his wife Melissa Cohen and their two-year-old son Beau.
The unnamed shooter killed six people before turning the pistol on himself. His motive remains unclear, and police have not yet released his name.
Other employees of the Walmart took to social media on Wednesday to say he was ‘crazy’ and seemed as though he was going to ‘snap’ in the days and weeks beforehand.
‘Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, one of our most cherished holidays that brings us together as Americans and as families, when we hug our loved ones and count our blessings,’ Biden’s statement reads.
‘There are now more families who know the worst kind of loss and pain imaginable,’ he continued. ‘Jill and I grieve for those families, for the Chesapeake community, and for the Commonwealth of Virginia, which just suffered a terrible shooting at the University of Virginia this month.’
The president was referencing the shooting on November 13, making this the third high-profile mass shooting in the U.S. a single month.
Tyneka Johnson, 22, is among the six people shot dead by a Walmart gunman in Chesapeake last night At 10.10pm last night, the shooter opened fire in a break room of the store. It’s unclear if the rampage was contained to the break room or if he ventured into the store
A member of the FBI works at the scene of a mass shooting at the Walmart Supercenter in Chesapeake, Virginia, USA, 23 November 2022
A member of the FBI works at the scene of a mass shooting at the Walmart Supercenter in Chesapeake, Virginia, USA, 23 November 2022
Crime scene investigators at the Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia, on Tuesday night after a store manager opened fire, killing six people. He also died in the incident but it’s unclear if he shot himself or was killed by someone else
Walmart is yet to give any kind of information about the shooter or the victims.
In a Twitter statement last night, the company said: ‘We are shocked at this tragic event at our Chesapeake, Virginia store. We’re praying for those impacted, the community and our associates.
‘We’re working closely with law enforcement and we are focused on supporting our associates.’
Five patients were being treated for injuries at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, the area’s top trauma center.
But many are thought to be seriously hurt, as over 40 emergency service vehicles swooped to the Walmart supercenter on Tuesday night.
One Walmart employee, standing outside the store after the horrific attack, revealed on social media: ‘It was the manager. One of the managers.’
Referring to the gunman, the shaken staff member added: ‘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.
‘I just left the break room, the manager come in there and started capping people up in there, started shooting. Sadly we lost a few of our associates.’
‘It was a traumatic experience,’ he later revealed to DailyMail.com.
One Walmart employee who survived (above) told his social media followers that his manager walked into the staff room and open fire on his colleagues
Police have not yet confirmed the nature of the shooter’s death.
A second Walmart employee, who showed up for their nightshift shortly after the shooting, told reporters at the scene: ‘Thank goodness I showed up late.’
‘Chesapeake Police confirm seven fatalities, including the shooter, from last night’s shooting at Walmart on Sam’s Circle,’ the city confirmed on its Twitter account.
Police officer Leo Kosinski said there were multiple fatalities and injuries and that police were still searching the building, in an update during the early hours of Wednesday morning.
He said: ‘As police arrived on scene, they realized it was an active shooter situation and we had to change our tactics.’
Addressing the fatal shooting, Walmart said in a statement: ‘We are shocked at this tragic event at our Chesapeake, Virginia store.
‘We’re praying for those impacted, the community and our associates. We’re working closely with law enforcement, and we are focused on supporting our associates.’
The supercenter was open to the public at the time of the shooting – and cops said the Walmart may have been busy as shoppers were preparing for Thanksgiving.
Kosinski said police feared there could be even more people inside the large store, either injured or hiding following the gunshots.
Virginia Beach police responded to assist the Chesapeake Police Department. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Washington tweeted in the early hours of Wednesday morning that they were also on the way to help with the investigation.
The gunman, believed to be a manager at the store, started shooting people in a Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia
Leo Kosinski with Chesapeake PD briefs the media following the mass shooting at the Walmart store
Virginia state Senator Louise Lucas, who represents that portion of Chesapeake, said: ‘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.’
Member of Congress Representative Elaine Luria posted to Twitter: ‘Enough is enough’.
Virginia senator Mark Warner said: ‘Sickened by reports of yet another mass shooting, this time at a Walmart in Chesapeake. I’ll be monitoring developments closely.’
Just last week, another shooting rocked the state of Virginia after three college football players died when a former player opened fire on a field trip bus.
Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., 22, shot into the bus at around 10.15pm, killing three people and injuring two more.
University of Virginia students Lavel Davis Jr., D’Sean Perry and Devin Chandler were killed in the horrific shooting.
Prosecutors told the court that Devin Chandler was sleeping when he was shot dead. The students were returning from a field trip last Sunday when the terror unfolded.
Jones faces second-degree murder and other charges stemming from the shooting, which set off a manhunt and 12-hour campus lockdown before he was apprehended in suburban Richmond.
Jones was remanded in custody without bond and will next appear in court in December at 9.30am.
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