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Kroger released an official statement through a Facebook post Friday afternoon following the mass shooting at its 240 New Byhalia Road location in Collierville Thursday afternoon, September 23, in which 15 people were shot. Those shot included 10 Kroger employees and five customers. Customer Olivia King was identified as the shooting victim who passed away.
Kroger’s Corporate Affairs/Company Spokesperson for its Delta Division, Teresa Dickerson said Friday during a news conference that counseling will be provided to employees and that the store will remain closed until further notice.
Kroger posted the following statement on Facebook Friday afternoon at 3:22 p.m.:
The Collierville Police Department held a press conference at 10 a.m. Friday, September 24, to release new information about the tragedy that occurred in Collierville Thursday, Sept. 23 around 1 p.m.
Collierville Mayor Stan Joyner opened the press conference saying, “I want to give a special thanks to our first responders, our police department, and our fire department. They made us so proud with their response to this tragic event and we appreciate all that they do every single day.”
Collierville Police Chief Dale Lane shared the victim who passed is Olivia King and asked for everyone to keep Olivia’s family in their prayers.
There was also a search warrant executed Thursday night at 885 Federal Ridge Road #102. The police department is processing evidence to include electronic evidence, as well as the crime scene vehicles, and interviewing other potential witnesses.
“Our team conducted active shooter training on June 4, 2021, with police from surrounding departments as well as the Collierville Fire Department,” Lane said The training allowed our team to integrate the fire department personnel into response operations. This improved our response on September 23.”
Lane chose not to release the shooter’s name publicly to avoid notoriety for his actions. He did verify that the shooter was a third-party vendor, not a Kroger employee.
The shooter has been identified in numerous media outlets as 29-year-old Uk Thang who witnesses said worked in the sushi department.
Authorities haven’t given a motive in the shooting, but Kroger employee Lawanda Clark recalls overhearing managers talking about firing Thang the night before.
“They had to walk the guy out yesterday morning. I think it was round about 9:00,” said Clark. “His boss came and they were talking to him about what happened. They had to walk him out and he didn’t really want them to walk him out. They said they were gonna call the police. But I guess he left at that point.”
She describes Thang as quiet, only conversing with the other sushi workers and sometimes arguing with other co-workers.
“I never said much to him. I think he was pretty off to himself. People had said he don’t like people to speak with him,” said Clark.
This continues to be an ongoing investigation and the Collierville Police Department said it will release additional information as it becomes available.