Multiple people were shot and killed inside a Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia, on Tuesday night, according to a spokesperson with the Chesapeake Police Department.
The shooter, whose name the authorities did not release, was found dead at the store on Tuesday night, Leo Kosinski, a spokesperson with the Police Department, said in a brief news conference.
Kosinski did not say exactly how many people had been fatally shot, but he said he believed it was "less than 10."
The Police Department responded to a report of a shooting inside the Walmart about 10pm, Kosinski said.
He added that when officers entered the store, they found “multiple fatalities and multiple injured” individuals.
Kosinski said investigators did not know if the shooter was an employee or whether he had died by suicide. He added that he did not believe any shots had been fired by police officers.
Representatives for Walmart did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It was at least the second mass shooting in the country in less than a week. Five people were killed in shooting at an LGBTQ2S+ club in Colorado Springs, Colorado, over the weekend.
Earlier this month in Charlottesville, Virginia, three members of the University of Virginia football team were killed by a former football player, who opened fire in a garage, the authorities said.
Photos and videos from the scene of the Walmart shooting showed officers huddling around the entrance of the building, with numerous police vehicles parked in the large lot of the store. A large inflatable Santa Claus stood outside the store.
Kosinski said that officers were searching for more victims inside the Walmart as of late Tuesday night.
He noted that the large store "had a lot of hiding spots" for shoppers who had possibly sought cover during the shooting.
“People could get scared, they could be hiding,” Kosinski said. “We want to make sure that everyone is accounted for.”
In this photo taken on Aug 15, 2022, the Walmart logo is seen outside a Walmart store in Burbank, California. (File photo: AFP)
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.