Dan Beazley carries a large wooden cross that he brought from his home in Detroit, from his car to the entrance of The Mount (Mount Lebanon Baptist Church) in Chesapeake, Va., Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022, for a prayer vigil held by the Chesapeake Coalition of Black Pastors for the six people killed at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Va., when a manager opened fire with a handgun before an employee meeting Tuesday night. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) 
Hagins K. Conyers Jr., left, assists Carmen Kingston as she lights a candle for Fernando “Jesus” Chavez-Barron, 16, of Chesapeake, Va., during a prayer vigil held by the Chesapeake Coalition of Black Pastors at The Mount (Mount Lebanon Baptist Church) in Chesapeake, Va., Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022, for the six people killed, including Chavez-Barron, at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Va., when a manager opened fire with a handgun before an employee meeting Tuesday night. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) 
Sonya Johnson, the aunt of Tyneka Johnson, 22, of Portsmouth, Va., right in the white sweater, hugs Carmen Kingston, a loved one of Fernando “Jesus” Chavez-Barron, 16, of Chesapeake, Va., during a prayer vigil held by the Chesapeake Coalition of Black Pastors at The Mount (Mount Lebanon Baptist Church) in Chesapeake, Va., Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022, for the six people killed at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Va., including Tyneka Johnson and Chavez-Barron, when a manager opened fire with a handgun before an employee meeting Tuesday night. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) 
Alonzo and Linda Gamble, center holding hands, parents of Lorenzo Gamble, 43, of Chesapeake, Va., are comforted during a prayer vigil held by the Chesapeake Coalition of Black Pastors at The Mount (Mount Lebanon Baptist Church) in Chesapeake, Va., Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022, for the six people killed at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Va., including Lorenzo Gamble, when a manager opened fire with a handgun before an employee meeting Tuesday night. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) 
Linda Gamble, center, mother of Lorenzo Gamble, 43, of Chesapeake, Va., is comforted during a prayer vigil held by the Chesapeake Coalition of Black Pastors at The Mount (Mount Lebanon Baptist Church) in Chesapeake, Va., Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022, for the six people killed at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Va., including Lorenzo Gamble, when a manager opened fire with a handgun before an employee meeting Tuesday night. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) 
Maurene Bullock, left, and Dr. Angela Coprew-Boyd, pray during a prayer vigil held by the Chesapeake Coalition of Black Pastors at The Mount (Mount Lebanon Baptist Church) in Chesapeake, Va., Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022, for the six people killed at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Va., when a manager opened fire with a handgun before an employee meeting Tuesday night. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) 
Linda Gamble, right, mother of Lorenzo Gamble, 43, of Chesapeake, Va., stands during a prayer vigil held by the Chesapeake Coalition of Black Pastors at The Mount (Mount Lebanon Baptist Church) in Chesapeake, Va., Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022, for the six people killed at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Va., including Lorenzo Gamble, when a manager opened fire with a handgun before an employee meeting Tuesday night. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
CHESAPEAKE, Va. | Five days have passed since Lorenzo Gamble was killed in a mass shooting at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia. His mother, Linda Gamble, hasn’t been able to do much of anything, including eat, because she misses him so much.
“It’s been really hard because I never, ever in a million years thought it would be my baby,” Gamble said. “He’s gone, but he will always be in my heart.”
Gamble spoke Sunday evening before a prayer vigil at The Mount Chesapeake church that honored her son and five other employees who police say were fatally shot by a store supervisor. Six others who were wounded in Tuesday’s rampage were also honored.
The 90-minute vigil — filled with music, hand raising and invocations of God — was an effort by the Chesapeake Coalition of Black Pastors to provide some kind of balm for a community that’s still raw from the violence.
By the end of the service, Gamble and her husband, Alonzo, stood with dozens of others who had lost someone to the carnage, knew a person who was wounded or who works at the store.
Among them was Shelia Bell, 70, a Walmart employee who worked with Lorenzo Gamble, a custodian at the store for 15 years. She said she also knew the shooter, who died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene.
“To tell you the truth, right now I’m numb inside,” Bell said.
During the vigil, a tall purple candle was lit for each of the victims. They were Gamble, 43; Fernando “Jesus” Chavez-Barron, 16; Kellie Pyle, 52; Tyneka Johnson, 22; Brian Pendleton, 38; and Randy Blevins, 70.
“We cannot know your pain of waiting to hear about your loved ones or even understand the horror of the phone call when it came,” state Sen. Mamie Locke said earlier. “But what we can do is come together as a community and provide a shoulder to lean on.”
Congressman Bobby Scott said that Chesapeake, a city of about 250,000 people near the Atlantic coast, “now joins the list of all too many communities forced to bear the unbearable.”
The city of Chesapeake, Virginia, has scheduled a candlelight vigil for Monday evening that will honor and remember the victims of last week’s mass shooting at a Walmart store.
Police said the shooter at the Walmart was a supervisor who left behind a note that claimed he was harassed and pushed to the brink by a perception his phone was hacked. He died at the scene of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The Walmart store associates who died ranged in age from 16 to 70 and were in various stages of life.
Fernando “Jesus” Chavez-Barron, 16, had just started driving and gotten his first part-time job at Walmart to help out his family. Kellie Pyle, 52, recently moved back to the region after reconnecting with her high school sweetheart. They planned to marry next year.
Randy Blevins, 70, had worked at the Walmart for more than 30 years after owning his own five-and-dime store. Brian Pendleton, 38, had recently celebrated his 10-year anniversary at the store and was a “happy-go-lucky” guy who loved to tell jokes.
Lorenzo Gamble, 43, worked there for 15 years. He was the quiet one in his family and enjoyed going to his 19-year-old’s football games. Tyneka Johnson, 22, was young and wanted to make her own money. She also had a sense of style and love for music and dancing.
The vigil starts at 6 p.m. and will be held at Chesapeake City Park.