RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
It has happened again - another mass shooting, this time in Chesapeake, Va. Police there say seven people, including the shooter, are dead.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The attack happened late last night at a Walmart store. Joining us now is Angelique Arintok from 13News Now at WVEC, who's been reporting from there.
Angelique, tell us what you know at the moment.
ANGELIQUE ARINTOK: This morning, Chesapeake city officials confirm seven people, including the shooter, are dead and police say multiple people are injured after a shooting broke out inside that Walmart off Battlefield Boulevard. While the suspect's motivation is still unclear, what is clear is that lots of people had been out there on Tuesday night to get things together for their Thanksgiving gatherings. The call about an active shooter came in just after 10 o'clock Tuesday night, according to police. Outside the store and in that area, I did speak with one gentleman who recounts leaving the store at about 9:50 and just seeing the aftermath unfold outside.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: I know what gunshots sound like. And so I knew those muffled - the muffled sounds and then the screaming afterwards - just those two together, you knew something bad was happening inside.
MARTÍNEZ: Angelique, what do we know about the fatalities - the people who have died and the people who are injured?
ARINTOK: A, we do not know yet an age range or names of those who died in the Tuesday night's shooting. Investigators do believe, however, that they've found all the victims. In neighboring city, Norfolk, for instance, the local Sentara General Hospital is treating five patients. A spokesperson says that they have no update, though, on exactly how they're doing at this time.
MARTÍNEZ: And what about the situation at the Walmart store? What's it looking like there?
ARINTOK: There's definitely going to be some federal investigators involved. Local investigators on scene - the - according to law enforcement officials, it's going to be an ongoing scene at that Walmart for the next five days. Lots more to uncover in terms of this shooting. A news conference is upcoming at around 8 this morning in Chesapeake.
MARTÍNEZ: Angelique, considering it's Thanksgiving week, how's the community responding right now? I mean, what have you been seeing and hearing?
ARINTOK: I think there's so much pain and heartbreak in this community. There's no good time for something like this to ever happen. But just the fact that you have Thanksgiving around the corner and with the holiday season here makes it that much more heartbreaking. I was also at the reunification site, where immediate family members and emergency contacts of those who may have been inside the store could go in and file in, check in on their loved ones. Sadly, we did see some of those family members come out of the reunification site audibly shaken and audibly upset, understandably, just with Thanksgiving around the corner, too.
MARTÍNEZ: That's Angelique Arintok from 13News Now at WVEC Television.
Angelique, thank you very much.
ARINTOK: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.