Local authorities said the shooter was among the dead, but the death toll remained unclear
The shooting at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia, has left 10 people dead and injured, according to local authorities.
The shooter was among the dead, the City of Chesapeake tweeted on Tuesday. It said: “Chesapeake Police confirm an active shooter incident with fatalities at the Walmart at Sam's Circle. The shooter is dead."
Leo Kosinski, a spokesman for the police department, said in a brief press conference that police received reports of a shooting at 10pm and arrived to find multiple victims.
The shooting was thought to have stopped when police arrived, Kosinski said, adding that he did not believe police had opened fire, but he could not say whether the shooter died from self-inflicted gunfire.
It was not clear how many people died, but Kosinski said "no more" than 10 people were killed.
The city set up a reunification site at the Chesapeake Conference Center for family members of those who may be present at the Walmart to gather.
"We are shocked by this tragic event at our store in Chesapeake, Virginia," Walmart tweeted Wednesday morning. “We pray for those affected, our community and partners. We are working closely with law enforcement, and we are focused on supporting our partners,” the tweet said.
Mike Kafka, a spokesman for Sentara Healthcare, said five patients from Walmart were being treated at Norfolk public hospital. Their condition is not immediately available.
Virginia state senator Louise Lucas said she was “absolutely heartbroken that America's latest mass shooting occurred at a Walmart in my district of Chesapeake, Virginia.
"I will not rest until we find a solution to end the epidemic of gun violence in our country that has claimed so many lives."
The shooting in Virginia comes three days after someone opened fire at a gay nightclub in Colorado, killing five people and wounding 17. The shooter, who is not binary, was caught after a customer at the club tackled them. The shooting came a year when the US was rocked by the deaths of 21 people in a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
Tuesday's shooting also harkens back to another shooting at a Walmart in 2019, when a gunman police said was targeting Mexicans opened fire at a store in El Paso and killed 22 people. Walmart didn't have a security guard on duty that day.