A 77-year-old Virginia Beach man died after he was attacked inside a Norfolk Walmart by the parents of a teenage employee he had confronted over a shopping cart, his widow said.

Bert D. Atienza died of blunt head trauma on June 8, 2026, a day after the assault at the store at 1170 N. Military Highway. The Virginia medical examiner ruled the death a homicide. Police responded to a reported assault about 3:20–3:50 p.m. on June 7 and found him unresponsive.

Josephine Atienza, his wife of 42 years, told WTKR the couple had gone grocery shopping after church. She said a 17-year-old Walmart worker came quickly down the aisle and nearly struck her with a cart without apologizing. Bert told the teen she had almost hit his wife with a heavy cart and had not said excuse me. They exchanged words. Josephine said the employee then threw a can toward them as they walked away and called her parents.

Minutes later, Travis White, 44, and Erika Mitchell, 42, both of Norfolk, found the couple in an aisle. Surveillance video obtained by WTKR shows Atienza looking at a shelf when the adults approached. Josephine said they crowded him and one hit him in the face. He was shoved, grabbed and punched, pushed into shelving, and fell. She said one of them kicked him on the floor. “He fell down on the floor. I was terrified. I don’t know what’s going on.” She told them to stop because he had heart problems. He asked her to help him get up. She said he was bleeding and to wait for the ambulance. He then lost consciousness.

White and Mitchell were arrested days later. They were first charged with malicious wounding by mob, aggravated malicious wounding and conspiracy. Court records later listed second-degree murder. They are being held without bond. The 17-year-old employee was charged with assault and battery, aggravated malicious wounding and conspiracy to commit a felony and was held in juvenile detention. Walmart said she no longer works there and that the company is cooperating with police.

Atienza was a Filipino American and a U.S. military veteran. Josephine said she lost a husband of 42 years and their son lost a father. “As each day passes by, I feel the pain of loneliness… There is an anger and bitterness in me. If only I could turn back time.”

Sources

• WTKR (widow interview and surveillance video)
• WAVY, The Virginian-Pilot
• The Guardian
• Norfolk Police Department and Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
• Inquirer / Filipino community reporting