CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Myles Whitaker, a survivor of the Walmart mass shooting, had only worked at the Sam's Circle Walmart in Chesapeake for two months when he says he hid from bullets in the breakroom. He says November 22, 2022, is a day he’ll never forget.
"The shooter came in and didn’t say anything or open his mouth," Whitaker said. "He just let the shots go off."
Myles Whitaker, now a 23-year-old Norfolk State senior, recalls the tragic moments during his nightside shift at Walmart.
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"If I had to estimate it, he was about six feet away from me," Whitaker said. "The breakroom is not that big."
That day six of his colleagues were shot and killed by a store supervisor.
"The first two shots, he shot to the left of me, and I went into survival mode and ducked underneath the table," Whitaker said. "I took a chair and shielded myself. I’m seeing people get shot and seeing my co-workers fall on the ground. I thought he was going to clear the room. I didn’t think anyone was going to make it out alive."
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Whitaker says he ran for his life.
"I remembered when it happened, running all the way to Kohl’s which is at the end of the shopping center," Whitaker said.
Although Whitaker no longer works at Walmart, he says this week was his first time going back to the Sam's Circle Walmart since the mass shooting happened a year ago.
"They were asking me if I wanted to relocate to a different Walmart," Whitaker said. "I said no, I couldn’t even put on the uniform anymore. I didn’t want to work for Walmart period."
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He says music has been his outlet.
"One of the coping mechanisms I use is through my music," Whitaker said. "I dropped a song documenting how that night went a year ago."
His message to others: "Don’t take life for granted."
