According to a report, the teen who was shot along with five coworkers at a Virginia Walmart had just started working at the business and used his first salary to buy a gift for his mother.
Fernando Chavez-Barron, 16, was a “hardworking” and “modest” 11th-grade honors student who had just received his driver’s license and was a “amazing big brother,” according to a GoFundMe account established for his family, which has raised more than $14,000.
He was the youngest of the six employees killed Tuesday at the Chesapeake, Virginia, suburbia big-box supermarket.
“Until today, I hoped everything was a dream,” said Fernando’s boyhood buddy Joshua Trejo-Alvarado to WTKR. “I wish he were here with me still.”
Friday, the city of Chesapeake revealed Fernando’s name, which it had first kept owing to his age.
Just after 10 p.m., Walmart manager Andre Bing opened fire on his coworkers in the store’s break area before fatally killing himself.
His cousin Virgil Wimmer told The Post that 70-year-old Randall Blevins had worked at Walmart for “almost 30 years.” Blevins was a member of a team that organized items and set prices at the shop. He informed Wimmer a year ago that he intended to retire soon, citing his age.
Blevins, whom he characterized as “relaxed,” appeared to have altered his mind, which Wimmer attributed to the fact that “he loved Walmart.”
Wimmer stated, “He enjoyed his work tremendously.” This is how I learned he opted to continue working and not retire.
One woman who worked with Blevins at the company twenty years ago remembers beginning her career alongside him.
“Back 20 years…
Denise Black Brzenk, a coworker, posted a photo of Blevins in his blue vest and commented, “I had this Walmart friend.” He was named Randy Blevins.
Linda Gamble, his mother, stated on Facebook that Lorenzo Gamble, 43, was a janitor at the Chesapeake site for 15 years. Before the shooting, he was preparing for a nine-minute move to another business in Grassfield.
“What should I do now?” she asked. My world has been turned upside down.
Kellie Pyle, a 52-year-old mother, intended to wed in 2023.
Her future mother-in-law Gwendolyn Bowe Baker Spencer stated, “We love her.” “She was to marry my son the next year. “Yes, really, she was a remarkable and kind person.”
Outside the Walmart, a makeshift memorial with the inscription “Our Hearts are with You” and a bouquet of flowers had been erected for Tyneka Johnson, 22.
Tutor Casheba Cannon told the Washington Post that during her high school years, Johnson had her sights set on attending college and “gelled” with everyone she encountered at Cannon’s Blessed Tutoring Services.
Michelle Johnson, the mother of Brian Pendleton, stated that he was in the break room when Bing began firing. Pendleton was a 38-year-old store janitor who had recently celebrated his 10-year anniversary at the company.
His mother remarked, “He always arrived early to work in order to be on time.” “He was fond of his employees.”