A mass shooter who killed six people at a supermarket where he worked had an energy drink addiction and "nobody really liked him", according to a former colleague.
Walmart manager Andre Bing, 31, fired at fellow staff and shoppers during his bloody rampage last night at the outlet in Chesapeake, Virginia, US, before turning the gun on himself.
Ex-overnight stocker at the store, James Credle, told the Mirror the killer introduced him to the Yellow Edition of Red Bull and they would drink it together on shift.
The 19-year-old described Bing as a "major germaphobe" who was almost "always stressed and p***** off" while he worked there for a few months last year.
"He wrote me up two days in a row and I quit a week later because of him, actually," he said.
"Nobody really liked him because he could be an a******. He always got me in trouble for little stuff like leaving a pallet in the wrong spot or something stupid and it was all the time."
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Bing is understood to have initially opened fire in the staff break room at around 10.12pm local time (3.12am GMT), and James said he would have targeted that area specifically.
The teenager explained: "The break room he killed the employees in is where they have their daily meets before the shifts start so he knew people would be in there.
"He was in there everyday and gave a speech everyday about what we’re doing or whatever needs to get [done], but people took him as a joke."
James said despite how difficult Bing could be as a manager, personally he didn't have a problem with him - and he would never have expected him to do what he did.
"People would tell me he was weird but I never really thought it myself. He talked to me like a normal person when we were on break or whatever," he said.
"He was an energetic person that was in a good mood if he was having a good day."
Asked if he ever spoke about guns, James said: "No, never."
He continued: "He would wear skinny jeans and a tropical button-up, usually.
"He had a beard and would put his hair in a man bun."
James recalled Bing drove a Ford Fusion or Focus car and said: "I know he liked buying furniture or things for his house. I heard it was really nice."
"Overall, I would never expect this from [him]," he added.
According to witnesses, Bing first shot a woman in the head in the car park outside the store in Sam's Circle, before heading to the staff break room and then the grocery section.
In a livestream from the scene by a staff member, a woman can be heard crying as she said: "I just played dead."
She described how someone begged the shooter, saying "please, please" and he told her: "Get the f*** out of here."
Another witness said shoppers "scattered like cockroaches" as the shots rang out.
Chesapeake Police spokesman Leo Kosinski said over 35 to 40 minutes officers found multiple dead and injured people in the store.
They put rescue and tactical teams together to go inside and provide life-saving measures, he continued.
Investigators believe that the shooting had stopped when police arrived.
Mr Kosinski said a total of seven people were killed in the incident, including the gunman.
Dozens of police cars and medical personnel are at the scene.
Those injured are being treated at Norfolk General Hospital.
Walmart tweeted: "We are shocked at this tragic event at our Chesapeake, Virginia store.
"We're praying for those impacted, the community and our associates. We're working closely with law enforcement, and we are focused on supporting our associates."
The shooting comes three days after a person opened fire at a gay nightclub in Colorado, killing five people and wounding 17.
The alleged attacker, who is nonbinary, was arrested after patrons at the club tackled and beat them.
The shootings come in a year when the country was shaken by the deaths of 21 in a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
Tuesday's shooting also brought back memories of another shooting at a Walmart in 2019, when a gunman police say was targeting Mexicans opened fire at a store in El Paso and killed 22 people.
Walmart did not have a security guard on duty that day.
US senator Mark Warner tweeted that he is "sickened by reports of yet another mass shooting, this time at a Walmart in Chesapeake".
State senator Louise Lucas echoed Mr Warner's sentiment tweeting that she was "absolutely heartbroken that America's latest mass shooting took place in a Walmart in my district".
Chesapeake is about seven miles south of Norfolk in the US state.
