Vigil held for Virginia Walmart mass shooting victims
Yesterday (Nov. 28), city officials in Chesapeake, Virginia held a vigil to honor the lives lost in the recent horrific Walmart mass shooting. As previously reported by REVOLT, on Nov. 22, a store manager by the name of Andre Bing shot and killed six employees just before the establishment closed for the evening. The 31-year-old also died in the chaos from what authorities believe to have been a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
After Bing’s death, officials discovered notes he’d written alleging he was harassed by his Walmart co-workers. The manager, who’d been with the company for a decade, made a list of employee names along with their departments and shift hours before the deadly attack. At just 16 years old, Fernando “Jesus” Chavez-Barron was the youngest victim. He was described as a new hire who was working part-time, according to Fox News. Tyneka Johnson, 22, was remembered as a “real loving, beautiful soul.” A friend of hers who spoke with Richmond, Virginia station 6 News said, “Tyneka taught me a lot in these last couple years about life. She always wanted me to be so kind to others.”
Brian Pendleton, 38, recently celebrated his 10th anniversary at the job and was remembered as a “happy-go-lucky” person who often joked with others. Lorenzo Gamble, another long-time employee of the store, worked at that same Walmart for 15 years. He was 43 years old and loved attending his 19-year-old’s football games. Kellie Pyle, 52, planned to marry her high school sweetheart next year after just moving back to the area and taking a job at the supercenter. The eldest victim was 70-year-old Randy Blevins, an employee who’d been with the company for 30 years.
Yesterday’s vigil for the Walmart victims was held at Chesapeake City Park at 6 p.m. On Nov. 23, President Biden stated, “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.”
