|
The
city of Chesapeake confirmed the deaths in a tweet early on
Wednesday, citing the city police.
In an initial update, police had said they believed that fewer
than 10 people had been killed, according to public information
officer Leo Kosinski.
Police at the time were still looking for victims, who could be
injured or were inside the "very large" store with a lot of
hiding spots, he said.
"We want to make sure everyone is accounted for," he said.
He added that police believed there was only one shooter, who
had been killed.
Police have so far not provided any details about the suspected
shooter, but several media outlets have identified him as a
manager at the store. Kosinski said the police did not know if
the shooter was employed by Walmart.
The police were not clear whether the shooter died of
self-inflicted injuries. They believed that the shooting
happened inside the store, but said that one body was found
outside.
Kosinski also said no shots were fired at police "to his
knowledge". "I believe that the shooting had stopped when the
police arrived."
Tuesday's bloodshed was the latest episode of gun violence in
the United States which has fueled debate over tighter
restrictions on access to guns.
A news conference in response to the Walmart shootings will be
held at 8 a.m. local time on Wednesday, the City of Chesapeake
said on Twitter.
Walmart said in a statement early Wednesday that it was
"shocked" at the violence and that it was working closely with
law enforcement.
A spokesperson for Sentara Norfolk General Hospital told
television station WAVY that five patients were being treated
there.
"Sickened by reports of yet another mass shooting, this time at
a Walmart in Chesapeake. I'll be monitoring developments
closely," Virginia senator Mark Warner tweeted on Wednesday.
The police department did not immediately respond to a Reuters
request for further comment.
(Reporting by Bharat Govind Gautam, Abinaya Vijayaraghavan and
Shubham Kalia; Additional reporting by Juby Babu; Editing by
Miral Fahmy, Kim Coghill, Gerry Doyle and Nick Macfie)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
