Virginia Walmart mass shooting: Store to close for the 'foreseeable future'

Employees will continue to be paid, the company said.

ByMorgan Winsor, Josh Margolin, Aaron Katersky, Emily Shapiro, Meredith Deliso, Nadine El-Bawab, Beatrice Peterson, Arthur Jones II, and Jay O'Brien
Last Updated: November 29, 2022, 7:53 PM EST

A Virginia community is reeling after a man armed with a handgun shot and killed six people and injured several others in a mass shooting at a Walmart in Chesapeake.

Survivors said the gunman walked into a break room and opened fire on Nov. 22.

The suspect, a current employee, died at the scene from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.

Two victims remain in the hospital and two have been released, Walmart said Tuesday.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Nov 23, 2022, 1:20 PM EST

DHS combatting ‘all forms of targeted violence’

"We mourn the tragic and senseless loss of life in Chesapeake, Virginia," Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.

Mayarkas said DHS "continues to devote every available resource to combat all forms of targeted violence. We provide information, funding, training, and other resources to communities throughout our country to enable them to prevent and respond to these horrific acts."

-ABC News’ Luke Barr

Nov 23, 2022, 12:19 PM EST

6 hospitalized, 1 in critical condition

Six people were injured and hospitalized after Tuesday night’s Walmart mass shooting, officials said, including one victim in critical condition.

A makeshift memorial in the parking lot of the Walmart Supercenter where a mass shooting took place in Chesapeake, Virginia, USA, 23 Nov. 2022.
SHAWN THEW/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Three of the six victims killed in the shooting died at hospitals and the other three were pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.

Two victims were found dead in the store’s break room, where the shooter’s body was found, officials said. Another victim’s body was found toward the front of the store.

Nov 23, 2022, 10:44 AM EST

‘Our hearts are just completely broken’: Governor

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin called the mass shooting "a horrendous, senseless act of violence."

“Our hearts are just completely broken this morning," he told reporters Wednesday.

“Our job is to support families who are facing the unthinkable today: families who have lost a loved one or have a loved one who is injured,” he said.

"Our job today is to come around them and support them," Gov. Glenn Youngkin said of the victims' families.
1:52

Virginia governor reacts to Chesapeake Walmart shooting

"Our job today is to come around them and support them," Gov. Glenn Youngkin said of the victims' families.
ABCNews.com

Nov 23, 2022, 10:00 AM EST

Biden: ‘Yet another horrific and senseless act of violence’

President Joe Biden said in a statement, “Because 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. There are now more families who know the worst kind of loss and pain imaginable.”

“We are grateful to the first responders who mobilized to assist victims, and I have directed federal officials to provide any support and assistance needed to the people of Chesapeake,” he said.

Biden noted that this shooting comes just days after another mass shooting in Virginia, at the University of Virginia.

He said the nation “must take greater action” when it comes to gun-reform laws.

We “mourn for all those across America who have lost loved ones to these tragic shootings that we must come together as a nation to stand against,” Biden said.