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An employee opened fire in a Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia, late Tuesday, leaving six people dead, police said, in the country’s second high-profile mass killing in a handful of days. The assailant was also killed by what police believe was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Four other victims are hospitalized, police Chief Mark Solesky said. Their conditions were not known Wednesday morning. 

A witness said it was a store manager who shot at fellow employees gathered in the break room. 

The shooting was reported to 911 at 10:12 p.m., Solesky said. Officers arrived on the scene within two minutes and entered the store around 10:16 p.m., he added said. 

The store was deemed safe about an hour later, said police, who believe the gunman acted alone and that there is no longer any danger to the public.

The Walmart was open at the time of the shooting and busy with people stocking up ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, a shopper told a local TV station.

Police did not identify the shooter during a Wednesday morning news conference because they said his family had not yet been notified.

The investigation is ongoing, and the store will likely be closed for days as Chesapeake police and the FBI process the scene. 

The shooter’s motive was not clear as of Wednesday morning, and it was not known if he specifically targeted his victims, Solesky said. The police chief said he could not confirm if all the victims were employees.

Employee Briana Tyler said that workers had gathered in the store’s break room as they typically did ahead of their shifts.

“I looked up, and my manager just opened the door and he just opened fire,” she told ABC’s “Good Morning America,” adding that “multiple people” dropped to the floor.

“He didn’t say a word, he didn’t say anything at all,” she said.

The gunman used a pistol in the attack, Solesky said. A Chesapeake Police Department SWAT team and Virginia State Police later searched his home and determined it is safe, Solesky said.

Chesapeake Mayor Rick West did not attend Wednesday’s news conference because he tested positive for COVID-19, but City Manager Chris Price read a statement from the mayor, which said he was “devastated by the senseless act of violence that took place last night in our city.”

“My prayers are with all of those affected the victims, their family, their friends and their coworkers,” West said. “I’m grateful for the quick actions taken by our first responders who rushed to the scene. Chesapeake is a tight-knit community, and we were all shaken by this news. Together, we will support each other throughout this time, please keep us in your prayers.”

Joetta Jeffery told CNN that she received text messages from her mother who was inside the store when the shots were fired. Her mother, Betsy Umphlett, was not injured.

“I’m crying, I’m shaking,” Jeffery said. “I had just talked to her about buying turkeys for Thanksgiving, then this text came in.”

One man was seen wailing at a hospital after learning that his brother was dead, and others shrieked as they left a conference center set up as a family reunification center, The Virginian-Pilot reported.

Camille Buggs, a former Walmart employee, told the paper she went to the conference center seeking information about her former co-workers.

“You always say you don’t think it would happen in your town, in your neighborhood, in your store — in your favorite store and that’s the thing that has me shocked,” said Buggs, 58, of Chesapeake.

Walmart tweeted early Wednesday that it was “shocked at this tragic event.”

“We’re praying for those impacted, the community and our associates,” the retailer said. “We’re working closely with law enforcement, and we are focused on supporting our associates.

In a statement Wednesday morning, President Joe Biden said he and first lady Jill Biden “grieve for those families, for the Chesapeake community, and for the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

“Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, one of our most cherished holidays that brings us together as Americans and as families, when we hug our loved ones and count our blessings,” he said. “But because of yet another horrific and senseless act of violence, there are now even more tables across the country that will have empty seats this Thanksgiving. There are now more families who know the worst kind of loss and pain imaginable.”

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin wrote on Twitter: “Our hearts break with the community of Chesapeake this morning. … Heinous acts of violence have no place in our communities.”

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., tweeted that he was “sickened by reports of yet another mass shooting, this time at a Walmart in Chesapeake.”

The attack at the Walmart came three days after a person opened fire at a gay nightclub in Colorado, killing five people and wounding 17. And it was the second mass shooting to rock Virginia in 10 days. On Nov. 13, a former University of Virginia football player opened fire on a bus returning from a field trip, killing three members of the school’s football team, according to police.

A database run by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University that tracks every mass killing in America going back to 2006 shows this year has been especially bad. The U.S. has now had 40 mass killings so far this year, second to the 45 that occurred for all of 2019. The database defines a mass killing as at least four people killed, not including the killer.

Tuesday’s shooting also brought back memories of another at a Walmart in 2019, when a gunman police say was targeting Mexicans opened fire at a store in El Paso, Texas, and killed 22 people.