All the six victims of the Virginia Walmart shooting have been identified as co-workers of shooter Andre Bing who opened fire at the supercenter on Tuesday night. Among them is a 16-year-old boy, who hasn’t been named by the police. Authorities also didn’t release his photo since he is a minor.
The victims range from the age of 16 to 70. Bing, 31, has been identified as the seventh person to die in the shooting. Bing, the night-shift team lead, opened fire in the breakroom of the Walmart in Sam’s Circuit, Chesapeake, at 10.12 pm last night, where 14 employees had gathered for a pre-shift meeting.
Known Faces to the Killer
The six fatal victims of the carnage were identified by the Chesapeake Police Department as Brian Pendleton, 38, Kellie Pyle, 52, Lorenzo Gamble, 43, Randy Belvins, 70, Tyneka Johnson, 23, and a 16-year-old boy.
The boy’s name is being withheld due to his age, WAVY reported. All the victims were from Chesapeake except Johnson, who was from Portsmouth. Bing started shooting at 10:12 p.m. in the breakroom of the Walmart in Sam’s Circuit, Chesapeake. Police said that 14 workers had gathered there for a pre-shift briefing.
“The City of Chesapeake has always been known as the ‘City That Cares’ and now, more than ever, we know our City will show up and care for those who need it most,” the release naming the victims read.
“Please join us in praying for the family and friends of these community members who we have lost.”
Bing, the night-shift manager, who was described by those who knew him as a loner, shot a total of 10 people.
This comes as it was revealed that when police searched his body, they found a list of names on it that included the names of the colleagues he intended to kill. It is believed that the employees killed in the mass shooting were all his targets although police didn’t say whose names were on the list and how many names were there.
His body was found in the break room, next to the bodies of two other employees who had been fatally shot.
A third body was found at the front of the store. Three more people were injured and transported to the hospital, where they later died.
Shocking Deaths
Tributes to the victims from their grieving families began to pour in beginning Wednesday. Brian Pendleton’s neighbor told DailyMail.com that the man was “always smiling.” “Brian was a wonderful man, he was always smiling. He loved his job, he was very dedicated. “He did often say he was having issues with a manager at work, who wouldn’t give him the weekends off,” she said.
“Obviously I don’t know if it was the same manager. It’s just awful so close to Thanksgiving. He lost his sister a few months ago so it’s awful. He and his wife split up about three years ago and never had any children.
“He lived alone, and was a wonderful man. I gave him a ride to work and he insisted on giving me gas money when he got paid. It’s just the kind of guy he was, he was wonderful and caring.”
The mother of slain staffer Lorenzo Gamble, 43, lamented how her son, who worked at the store for 15 years and was set to transfer to another location, had left behind a family of his own.
“My quiet baby Lorenzo is gone,” the grieving mom wrote in a Facebook post. “He worked there for 15 years, he was going transfer to Grassfield. Now his sons is loss [sic] without him.”
Coworkers described Bing as “difficult, mean, and paranoid,” although it is unclear what precipitated the homicidal spree.
“He was always saying the government was watching him. He didn’t like social media and he kept black tape on his phone camera,” Shaundrayia Reese, who worked with Bing for three years, told CNN.
“Everyone always thought something was wrong with him,” she added.
In addition to the six victims, authorities reported that four other people who had been in the breakroom at the time of the shooting were still in the hospital as of Wednesday night. Six persons in all were sent to hospitals for medical attention. Cops found Bing’s body in the breakroom together with the bodies of the other two victims.
Police said that Bing was a manager at the Walmart store and had been working there since 2010. He had worked at the store the previous night but was not scheduled for the fatal shift on Tuesday.
According to authorities, Bing was “armed with one handgun and had multiple magazines on his person,” and the shooting ended with the shooter taking his own life before being captured. Witnesses claimed that the shooter laughed as he opened fire, killing his coworkers, before turning the gun on himself.
Bing‘s home was searched by police early on Wednesday. They are still conducting an investigation.
