Walmart shooter says he shot co-worker because he was being bullied, police say

MERCER COUNTY, Pa. — A man accused of shooting a co-worker at a Walmart store told police he was angry because the victim was bullying him.

The shooting was reported Thursday night inside the store in Hermitage. The suspect, 22-year-old Zachary McClimans, of Sharon, was arraigned Friday on attempted homicide charges.

According to a criminal complaint, McClimans said the victim threatened and bullied him so much that he wanted to shoot him.

"We believe it's not a random shooting. It was -- at least at first it appears -- it was a targeted shooting," Hermitage police Chief Eric Jewell said.

According to the complaint, McClimans said he walked off his job after the victim made a negative comment and threat to him about his transition into a woman. McClimans left the store, went to his grandfather's house, grabbed a gun and drove back to Walmart. Police said he walked inside and shot the co-worker who made the threats.

“There was an ongoing dispute between these two individuals,” Jewell said.

The victim was shot four times just before 11 p.m. Chaos ensued, with people taking cover and scrambling to evacuate the store, police said.

"These are highly emotionally charged events, both for people in the store and responding police and the community," Jewell said.

The victim, Jayson Hall, was airlifted to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Youngstown, Ohio, in critical but stable condition and is expected to survive, Jewell said.

When they arrived at the scene, officers considered the incident an active shooter situation, but McClimans was quickly taken into custody without incident in the store’s parking lot.

According to a criminal complaint, McClimans confessed to the shooting and said he had been thinking of a way to prevent Hall from hurting him. He said that after shooting Hall, he followed him to make sure he fell and wouldn’t bother him again.

“Our thoughts are with the associate who was injured. The other associate involved has been terminated,” Walmart said in a statement.

Cox Media Group