Walmart offers aid to employees, shooting victims’ families; store remains dark

Walmart is reaching out to help employees and the families of the shooting victims in the aftermath of the shooting in the breakroom of its store in Chesapeake, Va., last week.

The retail giant is supporting the families with funeral, travel and other expenses, wrote Walmart U.S. president and CEO John Furner, in a note to the company’s U.S. employees. (The shooting took the lives of six employees and injured four others, with two remaining in the hospital.)

In addition, Walmart has set up a physical site where employees “can meet, connect and speak to counselors.” All employees and their families also have access to confidential mental health support resources at no cost.

Furner noted that the Chesapeake store is closed and will remain so for the foreseeable future. All employees will continue being paid regardless of their planned schedules.

“We understand this was a moment that can never be forgotten, particularly for the surviving associates of Store #1841,” Furner wrote.  “We’ll work closely with the team to decide how and when we might remodel and reopen in a way that will help them move forward.”

The Walmart Foundation intends to contribute $1 million to the United Way of South Hampton Roads’ Hope & Healing Fund, which will support those impacted by the shooting and the broader Chesapeake community. Walmart will provide a 2:1 match for associate donations to this fund as part of its Season of Giving Back Campaign.

“Thank you so much for supporting each other during this unthinkable time,” Furner wrote. “Most of all, we extend our deepest condolences and support to those who lost a loved one last Tuesday. We’re so sorry, and we’re here for you.”

On the same day that Walmart released the letter, a survivor of the shooting at the Chesapeake store filed a $50 million lawsuit against the company for allegedly continuing to employ the shooter — store supervisor Andre Bing — "who had known propensities for violence, threats and strange behavior."

Donya Prioleau, an overnight stocker and trainer at the store, said she filed a written complaint to Walmart regarding Bing’s “bizarre” behavior months before the shooting, according to a filing in Chesapeake circuit court, reported CNN.