Walmart shooter left death note
He wrote he was ‘led by Satan’ and had ‘social deficits’
CHESAPEAKE, Va. — The Walmart supervisor who fatally shot six co-workers at a store in Virginia bought the gun just hours before the killings and left a note on his phone accusing colleagues of mocking him, authorities said Friday.
“Sorry everyone but I did not plan this I promise things just fell in place like I was led by the Satan,” Andre Bing wrote, the Chesapeake Police Department said Friday.
Police said the 9mm handgun used in the Tuesday shooting was legally purchased that morning and Bing had no criminal record. They released a copy of the note found on his phone that appeared to redact the names of specific people he mentioned.
It was not clear when the note was written, but in it Bing claimed he was harassed and said he was pushed to the brink by a perception his phone was hacked.
He wrote, “My only wish would have been to start over from scratch and that my parents would have paid closer attention to my social deficits.” Bing died at the scene of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Bing’s death note rambles at times through 11 paragraphs, with references to nontraditional cancer treatments and songwriting. He says people unfairly compared him to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, and wrote: “I would have never killed anyone who entered my home.”
And he wished for a wife but wrote he didn’t deserve one.
Co-workers of Bing who survived the shooting said he was difficult and known for being hostile with employees.
Walmart employee Briana Tyler said the overnight stocking team of 15 to 20 people had just gathered in the break room to go over the morning plan. Another team leader had begun speaking when Bing entered the room and opened fire, Tyler and Jessica Wilczewski said.
While another witness has described Bing as shooting wildly, Wilczewski said she observed him target certain people.
“The way he was acting — he was going hunting,” Wilczewski told The Associated Press Thursday.
Wilczewski said she had only worked at the store for five days and being a new employee may have been the reason she was spared.
She said she was hiding under a table after the shooting started and at one point, Bing told her to get out from under the table. But when he saw who she was, he told her, “Jessie, go home.”
Some who worked with Bing, 31, said he had a reputation for being an aggressive, if not hostile, supervisor who once admitted to having “anger issues.” But he also could make people laugh and seemed to be dealing with the typical stresses at work that many people endure.
Bing wasn’t particularly well-liked, said Nathan Sinclair, who worked at the Walmart for nearly a year before leaving earlier this month. But Sinclair also said there were times when Bing was made fun of.
During chats among coworkers, “We would be like ‘work is consuming my life.’ And [Bing] would be like, ‘Yeah, I don’t have a social life anyway,’” Sinclair recalled Thursday.
Police have identified the victims as Brian Pendleton, 38; Kellie Pyle, 52; Lorenzo Gamble, 43; Randy Blevins, 70, and Fernando Chavez-Barron, 16, who were all from Chesapeake; and Tyneka Johnson, 22, of Portsmouth.
Two others who were shot remained hospitalized, police said Friday. One is still in critical condition, and the other is in fair to improving condition.
Six people were wounded in the shooting, which happened just after 10 p.m. as shoppers were stocking up ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Police said they believe about 50 people were in the store at the time.
Bing was identified as an overnight team leader who had been a Walmart employee since 2010. Police said he had one handgun and several magazines of ammunition.
The attack was the second major shooting in Virginia this month. Three University of Virginia football players were fatally shot on a bus Nov. 13 as they returned from a field trip. Two other students were wounded.
OTHER SHOOTINGS
Also Friday, a person suffered injuries not considered life-threatening after being shot at a Walmart in Lumberton, N.C., police said.
Police were called to the Walmart in Lumberton for a report of gunshots around 11:30 a.m. Friday, one of the biggest shopping days of the year, Lumberton police said in a news release.
When officers arrived, they were not able to find a shooter or any victims, but surveillance video showed the shooter fleeing the store as it was evacuated, police said.
The victim later arrived at UNC Health Southeastern with a gunshot wound, police said. They were not aware of any other people injured in the incident.
Investigators described it as an isolated altercation between two people who knew each other.