(CNN) — The attacker of deadly Walmart shooting in Chesapeake, Virginia, he bought the gun he used in the attack earlier that morning and left a “suicide note” detailing his grievances against people in his life, city officials said Friday.
The note, which was found on his phone, talks about God, the Holy Spirit, and how the author felt mocked by his “associates.” Walmart uses the term associates for some of its employees.
“Associates laughed at me meanly, jeered and celebrated my downfall on the last day. That’s why they run the same luck as me”, says the note.”, says the note.
“I wish I could have saved everyone from myself,” the note reads. “My God, forgive me for what I’m going to do…”.
The city published the note in a series of tweets, editing the names of those mentioned by the attacker, who committed suicide after killing six people on Tuesday at the store where he worked as a night supervisor. None of the shooting victims were among the names redacted, police said.
The shooter had no criminal record, the city said, adding that the 9mm weapon he used in the killings was purchased legally Tuesday. A search of his home turned up a box of ammunition and “various items in reference to the 9mm pistol (box, receipt, other documents),” the city tweeted.
When Walmart was asked if the attacker had ever complained about his colleagues, the company said: “There is nothing that can justify taking innocent lives. Our focus continues to be on bereaved families and supporting our associates at this difficult time.”
News of the note came as authorities were searching for a motive for the mass shooting. Two employees remained hospitalized, one in critical condition, the city said Thursday.
“Today we focus only on those injured by the tragic event on Tuesday, but the police investigation continues,” Chesapeake officials said Thursday.
The people who died are Randy Blevins, 70; Lawrence Gamble, 43; Tyneka Johnson, 22; Brian Pendleton, 38, and Kellie Pyle, 52. The city named a previously unidentified 16-year-old victim Friday: Fernando Chavez-Barron.
City council leaders will hold a special meeting Monday night to confirm a emergency declaration that will “release funds to support the recovery” after the shooting, the city of Chesapeake said on Twitter on Friday.
Lashana Hicks (left) joins other mourners at a memorial Wednesday for those killed in a mass shooting at a Walmart Supercenter in Chesapeake, Virginia. Credit: Nathan Howard/Getty Images
The shooting Tuesday night, two days before Thanksgiving, began minutes after 10 p.m. inside the employee break room, where some workers were preparing to start their night shift.
The tragedy, which occurred as many members of the community prepared to spend the holidays with family and friends, has unleashed an outburst of grief and trauma over the loss of loved ones in yet another US mass shooting.
Another Virginia community has also been enduring the pain of lives lost to gun violence. About 170 miles west of Chesapeake, a 22-year-old student at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville was arrested and charged after opening fire on his classmates on November 13, killing three of them on a bus that was traveling He was returning to campus from a field trip to Washington.
Grief also permeated a Colorado community last weekend when a 22-year-old suspect shot and killed five people at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, wounding 19 others, authorities said.
These shootings, among many others, have put the US on the ominous path of making 2022 the year with the second most recorded mass shootings, according to data from the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive, which began tracking the number of shootings. cases in 2014.
Fernando is remembered as an outgoing young man
The Hampton Roads community, where Chesapeake is located, gathered at a sprawling makeshift memorial outside Walmart on Thanksgiving, praying for all the victims but paying special attention to Fernando. Several of the attendees knew the younger victim, who had just started working at the store and used his first paycheck on a gift for her mother, loved ones said. a WTKRCNN affiliate.
“I was speechless and speechless that it was him,” his friend Joshua Trejo-Alvarado said Thursday. “I expected everything to be a dream until today. I wish he was still standing here with me.”
Flowers and balloons were placed at the Virginia Walmart after the massacre on November 22, 2022. (Credit: Alex Brandon / AP)
Trejo-Alvarado didn’t realize his friend was a victim until Wednesday morning, he said. He called and texted him from school, risking having his phone confiscated, and when he didn’t answer, Trejo-Alvarado called the brother of his friend, who gave him the bad news, told the station.
“He would always be outgoing with anyone he met,” Trejo-Alvarado told WTKR.
Mayor Rick West invited residents to a 6 p.m. vigil event Monday to “honor the victims and grieve together.” It will take place in City Park, a few miles south of the Walmart.
“Chesapeake is a close-knit community and we are all shocked,” West said in a statement. “Together, we will support each other during this time.”
Survivors describe the shooting
The shooting in Chesapeake this week broke out suddenly, and witnesses said they were shocked and in disbelief when they saw the gunman pointing a firearm at them.
Walmart employee Kevin Harper said the gunman entered the break room and immediately began shooting.
“He went in there and started spraying,” Harper said in a video on social media.
The attacker has been identified as Andre Bing, who was working as a “team leader” overnight. The 31-year-old man had been working for Walmart since 2010, the company said. Authorities have said he had a semiautomatic pistol and several magazines of ammunition.
Two dead victims and the shooter were found in the break room, another victim was found in the front of the store and three others died at the hospital, Chesapeake city officials said.
Jessie Wilczewski, who was recently hired, told CNN she was in a regularly scheduled meeting when the shooting began.
At first, “it didn’t register as real,” he said, until the sound of gunshots echoed in his chest.
Wilczewski hid under a table as the attacker walked down a nearby hallway. He could see some of his coworkers on the floor or lying on chairs, all motionless and some probably dead, he said. He stayed because he didn’t want to leave them alone.
“I could have run out that door … and I stayed. I stayed so they wouldn’t be alone in their last moments,” Wilczewski said in a message to the families of two victims.
When the shooter returned to the break room, Wilczewski said, he told him to get out from under the table and go home.
“I had to knock on the door that was covered [de sangre]”I just remember grabbing my bag and thinking, ‘If he’s going to shoot me in the back, well, he’s going to have to try really hard because I’m running,’ and I did … and I didn’t stop until I got to my car. And then I had a breakdown.”
Briana Tyler, also a newly hired employee, said she saw bullets flying just inches from her face.
“All of a sudden you hear ‘da da da da da da da da’,” Tyler said. “There were people throwing themselves on the ground,” she said. “Everybody was screaming, gasping, and yeah, he just walked away after that and continued all over the store and kept shooting.”
CNN’s Aya Elamroussi contributed to this report.