A Walmart employee who survived last week’s massacre at a Virginia store has filed a $50 million lawsuit against the company for continuing to employ the shooter – a store supervisor – “who had known propensities to violence, threats and bizarre behaviour”.
The lawsuit, apparently the first stemming from the shooting, was filed Tuesday in Chesapeake Circuit Court by Donya Prioleau.
Walmart, which is based in Bentonville, Arkansas, said in a statement that it was reviewing the lawsuit and will respond “as appropriate to the court.”
“The entire Walmart family is heartbroken by the loss of important members of our team,” the company said. “We send our deepest condolences to our loved ones and to all those affected, including those who were injured. We are focused on supporting all of our partners with significant resources, including therapy.”
Prioleau’s lawsuit claims that he experienced post-traumatic stress disorder, including physical and emotional distress, from witnessing the Nov. 22 incident in the store’s break room. The complaint offers new details about the terrifying episode and provides a long list of disturbing signs displayed by the shooter that she says managers failed to address.
“The bullets passed in front of the face and left side of plaintiff Donya Prioleau, narrowly missing,” the lawsuit states. “She witnessed how several of her co-workers were brutally murdered on either side of her.”
The suit adds that “Prioleau looked one of her companions square in the eye right after she was shot in the neck. Mrs. Prioleau saw the gunshot wound to her co-worker’s neck, the blood gushing out, and the look of surprise on her co-worker’s helpless face.”
The store’s supervisor, Andre Bing, 31, fatally shot six employees and wounded several more before dying of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot, according to police.
The lawsuit alleges that Bing “had personal feuds with several Walmart employees and maintained a ‘list of potential targets’ prior to the shooting.”
The list refers to the “death note” found on the Bing phone that authorities released on Friday. The note appeared to contain specific references to the people he worked with, but authorities blacked out their names.
