CHESAPEAKE, Va. – Every night, when they start their overnight shift around 10 p.m., Walmart employees in Chesapeake gather in the break room.
They chatted and prepared for the upcoming long shift, then got to work cleaning and restocking the store the next day. Work hours are late and work can be exhausting, but team members – some of whom have worked there for years – say they are often elated by the camaraderie they find.
Shaundrayia Reese, 27, who worked at Walmart in a Chesapeake strip mall for several years, from circa 2015 to 2018, said: “Our overnight team, we were a family when I was there. there. .
On Tuesday night, six Walmart employees, many of whom were members of that tight-knit team, were shot dead, authorities said, by a longtime night crew supervisor who opened fire in the break room where the team usually gathers.
Among the dead were employees who had worked at the store for many years: Randall Blevins, a beloved father and coin collector; Lorenzo Gamble, father of two boys, cuddling the Mustang he drives; and Brian Pendleton, a maintenance worker that colleagues said they relied on for support. Newer employees were also among the dead, including Kellie Pyle, who is to be married next year, and Tyneka Johnson, whom relatives and neighbors described as kind. Authorities said a 16-year-old boy, who worked at the store but has not been named, was also killed.
As of Thursday, two others were still hospitalized with injuries, officials said. The gunman, authorities said, also died, killing himself with a pistol. Police have yet to suggest a motive for the shooting and have said their investigation will continue.
Some employees and their families went to a hotel not far from the store on Thursday for advice and support; “My heart aches for our associates and the Chesapeake community, who have lost or injured those who have lost or injured people,” said Doug McMillon, president and chief executive officer of Walmart. Dear.
Police have identified the gunman as Andre Bing, 31, an overnight supervisor who Working at Walmart since 2010. At the start of his shift, he would assemble his team for meetings, assign tasks and take notes from previous shifts, according to Nathan Sinclair, who had worked as a manager on the previous shift.
Former employees describe Mr. Bing as an off-set supervisors expressed concerns about government surveillance; Neighbors describe him as quiet and someone they rarely see unless he’s mowing the lawn. He will go to work at night and return in the morning. Brittany Jennings, 37, a neighbour, said: ‘It’s all you see in him.
Among the victims, Ms Johnson, in her 20s and described as sweet by her neighbors, had only recently started working at the store.
“She was young and wanted to make her own money,” a cousin, Theodore Johnson, 41, added that Ms Johnson lives with her mother. “
Kellie Pyle, 52 years old, kind and generous, plans to get married in the near future, The Associated Press reports. She has adult children in Kentucky, who plan to go to Virginia after the massacre.
“We love her,” Gwendolyn Bowe Baker Spencer, mother of Pyle’s partner, told the AP. “She’s getting married to my son next year. She’s a wonderful, kind person – yes, she is.”
Randall Blevins, 70, is a longtime member of the store’s pricing and inventory team, said Reese, who said she knew him as “Mr. Randy.”
His daughter, Cassandra Yeats, said Mr Blevins loved Norfolk Admirals hockey games, photography and coin collecting.
“He never missed a day of work,” she said. “He loves his family and supports everyone.”
A friend of the family of the 16-year-old victim of the shooting said that the boy was studying at a local high school and taking a job at Walmart overnight to help support the family. “He wanted to help a little bit,” said family friend Rosy Perez. “He is a very good child.”
Mr. Pendleton, another victim, was a maintenance worker who a former employee recalls as one of the store’s hardest workers.
“If you have any problems, you can go to Brian,” said former employee Josh Johnson, who has worked at the store for two and a half years. He will go polish for you and help you with everything.
Ms. Reese said she was particularly close to Mr. Pendleton.
She said: “He was never loud, never had a bad bone in him. “No one can say anything bad about that man. He’s one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met in my life.”
According to his mother, Mr. Gamble has worked at Walmart for about 15 years, going to work at night and coming home in the morning in his silver and black Mustang. The mother, Linda Gamble, said her son is known to be the quietest in the family and has two sons.
On Tuesday night, Ms. Gamble was getting ready for Thanksgiving when she heard there was a shooting at Walmart. Her husband drove to the Chesapeake Convention Center, where authorities had asked families to meet to await news of their loved ones.
He returned a few hours later, Miss Gamble recalled, and told her, “Your baby is gone.”
“All I could do,” she said, “is fall out of my chair and scream.”
Report contributed by Eduardo Medina, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, Michael Corkery, Jenny General and the rich Griset. Sheelagh McNeill, Kitty Bennett and Kirsten Noyes Contributing research.
