Virginia Walmart mass shooting: Store to close for the 'foreseeable future'
Employees will continue to be paid, the company said.
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.
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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.
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.
‘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.
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.
Employee recounts hiding during shooting
Walmart employee Kevin Harper told ABC News he arrived to work early Tuesday night. He was sitting in the break room when he said something didn’t feel right -- so he left.
Moments later, Harper said he heard around three or four muffled gunshots and he ran into a clothes hanger to hide.
“I couldn’t tell you how long I hid in there. Time just stopped at that moment,” he said.
He said he then ran as fast as he could out of the employee entrance. On his way out, he said he saw two people on the floor, including one woman covered in blood.
“I’m just praying for my Walmart family,” Harper said.
-ABC News’ Ike Ejiochi