3 remain in critical condition after worker in Collierville Kroger shot 15 before killing himself
Collierville TN Sept 26 2021
In front of a mobile command center outside a Kroger grocery store, Collierville Police Chief Dale Lane fielded questions from reporters Friday morning, taking care not to lend “notoriety” to the deceased shooter, a 29-year-old named Uk Thang, or theorize on Thang’s motives.
Lane also provided updated figures in the horrific shooting that occurred a day earlier in the grocery store behind him the number of those injured by gunfire was 15 in total.
Olivia King, a widowed mother of three grown sons, has remained the only fatality of the 10 Kroger employees and 5 customers who were shot Thursday afternoon. Three remain in critical condition.
In spite of the heartbreak, Lane said, “I hope you all saw the number of people in this community that showed up to support yesterday. One of the things I’ve talked to several people about is, yes, this is a terrible tragedy. But there were so many things that did go well yesterday that prevented additional loss of life.”
The shooting was first reported at 1:30 p.m.; Lane said the first officers inside the store were Collierville police about four minutes after the shooting was reported.
Across town, healthcare workers in Regional One Health’s trauma unit, enacted a “surge plan” for the eight gunshot victims, including King, who would arrive at their emergency department doors.
Less than an hour after the shooting started, dozens of law enforcement vehicles formed a tight perimeter around the store, as officers from various agencies escorted shaken shoppers and workers to the center of the parking lot and behind crime scene tape for their privacy.
Lane noted Collierville detectives and various investigators are at the beginning of a long process that will eventually yield more information about how events unfolded Thursday afternoon, on an otherwise sunny, fall day.
The shooter, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound shortly after the shooting began Thursday, was a third-party vendor with Kroger. Lane declined to identify which vendor he worked for.
A reporter for The Commercial Appeal visited what police described as the shooter’s residence at The Madison at Schilling Farms apartment complex on Thursday night, and saw a small number of police officers who appeared to be investigating a ground floor apartment.
Courtney Jeffries, 24 and her mother Hope Jaco, 57, live near that apartment. They described seeing a heavy police presence at the apartment complex earlier on Thursday evening, including officers in military-style tactical gear.
“They had this place, especially right here, swarmed,” Jeffries said.
The mother and daughter also said they saw officers escorting a man in handcuffs from nearby, sitting him down, and talking with him at a spot near their apartment. Jeffries said she heard a question about a bomb.
Lane later confirmed residents had been questioned but did not indicate they were suspected in the crime.
“No additional charges have been filed,” Lane said.
Sept. 24, 2021 – Collierville Police Lt. David Townsend holds up a paper with the name UK Thang, who was identified — though his name was not spoken — as the person who opened fire in the Kroger on New Byhalia Road in Collierville on Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021.
Collierville police:13 people shot, 2 dead in Kroger shooting. Shooter dead after self-inflicted gunshot wound
When the shooting started Thursday, workers hid in freezers and hunkered down in locked offices. One Kroger employee was rescued from the roof.
Larry Osborne, 60, said he was in the store when the shooting happened.
“I stopped by to grab some steaks for dinner. We were gonna grill out.”
He said he got the steaks and was at the register checking out. “And I’m standing there and I heard a loud noise.
“Everybody was kind of — you thought it was a balloon. But it was loud. And then five, 10 seconds later I heard a second one. And I’m thinking ‘OK.’ You know, you’re still not thinking this is a shooting. And then after the third one I heard somebody yell ‘Those aren’t balloons!’”
“And at that point, I beelined to the door and took off that way,” he said, pointing down the street. He said he ran away from the store, passed a bank, and stopped at a Shell gas station. He called his wife and she picked him up.
He spoke with a reporter Thursday night back at the blocked-off grocery store.
“I was here trying to get my vehicle. It’s still in the parking lot.”
He said he never saw the gunman.
“Glad to get away safe, you know . . . I don’t guess you’re safe anywhere anymore in this country, you know?”
Friends of the woman who died in the Collierville grocery shooting have identified her as Olivia King, a longtime resident of the area.
David Fraser said King had no relatives in the Collierville area and that after the shooting Thursday, he traveled to the Regional One Hospital on behalf of her family.
King is described as a longtime resident of Collierville, originally from San Antonio. She was a widow, with three grown sons. Two currently serve in the armed forces while another had just earned a doctorate.
Maureen Fraser, a member of Collierville’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen, and her husband, David Fraser described King as thoughtful and generous.
“Remember when you were out of work and she gave us some money? Gave us an envelope with some money to help us at Christmas time,” Maureen Fraser said to her husband.
Regional One Health, which received the majority of the shooting victims — eight total — did not report any additional fatalities Friday morning. Two have been discharged.
Of the remaining six patients, said Regional One spokesperson Angie Golding, three are in critical condition.
Three patients, said Dr. Martin Croce, the chief medical officer at Regional One, required emergency surgery, though it’s unclear if those victims are the same three victims currently in critical condition.
Regional One’s director of trauma medicine, Dr. Peter Fisher, praised the response of the nurses and trauma surgeons, many of whom had spent recent weeks responding to a deluge of critically ill COVID-19 patients. And while the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has declined over the last couple of weeks, 20% of Regional One’s hospital beds are still occupied by them.
Dr. Peter Fisher, the trauma unit director, said Thursday’s actions at Regional One were the result of regular training for such mass casualty events over the last five years.
“It’s remarkable how well it worked, and how well it worked when we needed it to work,” Fisher said.
Other hospitals in the area received patients with less serious injuries.
Baptist Memorial Health Care spokesperson Kim Alexander confirmed both patients they treated from the shooting have been discharged. One patient was taken to one of the hospitals in the St.Francis Hospital system, but it’s unclear which one.
The grocer issued an initial statement expressing sorrow for the employees and customers affected, as well as gratitude for the first-responders.
The store, said company spokesperson Teresa Dickerson, will remain closed until further notice.
“Every Kroger associate here, and in the Mid-South… we stand with our team at the Collierville store,” Dickerson said, adding that grief counseling services will be provided to any employee that needed it.
This event marks the second mass shooting in a year at one of the company’s stores. In late March, a gunman opened fire at King Sooper’s store in Boulder, Colorado, killing 10 people. King Soopers is part of the Kroger company.
commercialappeal.com
