Everytown, Moms Demand Action Statements On Mass Shooting At Walmart Store in Chesapeake, Virginia

Six People Dead, At Least Four Reported Wounded

CHESAPEAKE, Va. – Everytown for Gun Safety and its grassroots networks, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, released the following statements on the mass shooting at a Walmart location in Chesapeake, Virginia last night in which six people were killed and at least four more were wounded by a store employee. This is the second mass shooting in the U.S. in less than a week, following last weekend’s mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado in which five people were killed and at least 18 more wounded. The shooting also takes place on the heels of a recent shooting at the University of Virginia in which three students were killed. 

“Today, the American people should be asking themselves what they are thankful for — but instead, so many of us are asking why we live in a country where you can practically set your watch to mass shootings,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “We will honor the victims of this tragedy by fighting even harder for a future where we can shop for a holiday meal, go to a nightclub, or hang out on campus without looking over our shoulder.”

“Here we are again, America,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action. “For the second time in a week, a shooter brought a gun to a place where people were trying to just live their lives and murdered innocent civilians. It is not acceptable to expect gunfire to ring out at any moment – whether in a store while preparing for the upcoming holiday, or in a nightclub, or coming home from a school field trip. It is also not acceptable for lawmakers to do nothing in the aftermath of these shooting tragedies. We demand our elected officials at every level of government act and pass life-saving policies that address our country’s gun violence crisis.”

“We are devastated to be mourning the lives of our community members while the country is still grieving from the recent mass shooting in Colorado Springs,” said Caia DelaVergne, a gun violence survivor and volunteer with Moms Demand Action in Virginia. “Once again, a space that should have been safe has been shattered by preventable gun violence, and our entire community has been forever traumatized. These families shouldn’t have to spend the holiday season sitting across from empty chairs or burying their loved ones. We won’t stop fighting until tragedies like this stop happening in Virginia or anywhere else.”

Since 2009, the U.S. has had at least 289 mass shootings and this is the 22nd mass shooting in 2022. This includes at least nine mass shootings in Virginia, resulting in 51 people shot and killed and an additional 10 people shot and wounded. The reach of each mass shooting — which Everytown defines as an incident in which four or more people are shot and killed, excluding the shooter — stretches far beyond those killed and wounded, harming the well-being of survivors, their families, and entire communities.

In an average year, 1,065 people are killed by guns in Virginia and 1,911 more are wounded. Guns are also the leading cause of death among children and teens in Virginia. Gun violence costs Virginia $14.2 billion each year, of which $288.3 million is paid by taxpayers. More information on gun violence in Virginia is available here.