They Tried to Flee the Kroger Gunman. He Followed Them

'He kept on shooting, shooting, shooting,' a cashier says after shooting in Collierville, Tenn.
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 24, 2021 6:23 AM CDT
Kroger Witness: 'He Kept on Shooting, Shooting, Shooting'
A Kroger employee is seen following a shooting in Collierville, Tenn., on Thursday.   (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian via AP)

One person is dead and 14 are injured after what's believed to be at least the third supermarket shooting in the US this year. Now more details are trickling out, including the identity of the person fatally shot Thursday at a Kroger in Collierville, Tenn., Thursday. Relatives have IDed the victim as Olivia King. "Our family is devastated by this senseless act of violence," King's family said in a statement, per FOX 13. King's son posted on Facebook that she'd been shot in the chest. "This type of crime needs to stop being glossed over and sanitized," he wrote. "No one deserves this."

  • Other victims: Collierville Police Chief Dale Lane—who calls the shooting "the most horrific event that has occurred in Collierville history"—says 13 victims were hospitalized, with one individual suffering from an anxiety attack, per CNN. At least four are said to be in critical condition, reports the New York Times. Authorities haven't yet identified the victims or the shooter, who they say died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
  • Staying alive: Police say that during the shooting, workers hid in offices and freezers, with one employee fleeing to the roof; cops helped that worker down after the chaos was over.
  • Witness account No. 1: "He kept on shooting, shooting, shooting," cashier Brignetta Dickerson tells CNN, adding that the gunman started following her and others when they tried to escape. She notes one of her co-workers was shot in the head, while a customer was shot in the stomach.
  • Witness account No. 2: Jason Lusk was leaving a store next door to the Kroger when he saw people running out of the supermarket screaming, followed by "10 to 15 shots fired." "Sounded to me to be a high-powered semi-automatic rifle," he said.
  • Looking for loved ones: Workers' relatives congregated outside the store Thursday, desperate to hear word of them. "I still don't know where she is," one woman who says her mother worked in the meat department told the Commercial Appeal, adding her mom wasn't picking up her cellphone.
  • Emotional reunions: Preschool teacher Laura Tubbs said she got a text from her husband, Kroger's pharmacy manager, at around 1:40pm Thursday noting, "I'm OK." She didn't yet know there'd been a shooting. She reunited with him hours later in the store's parking lot.
  • More on King: Friends tell the Appeal that King was a widow originally from San Antonio, Texas, with three sons, including two in the armed forces. "She was just sweet," friend David Fraser says. His wife, Maureen, notes, "Remember when you were out of work and she gave us some money?" adding that King was "kind, polite, thoughtful."
(More mass shootings stories.)

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