Kroger mass shooting: Gunman who shot 15 at Tennessee store identified as UK Thang, a third-party vendor

Gunman who shot 15 before turning the gun on himself named by police as 29-year-old UK Thang

Grocery Store Shooting Tennessee

(The Associated Press)

A gunman who opened fire at a Kroger grocery store in Tennessee, killing one person and wounding 14 others, was a third-party vendor, police say.

Police have named the shooter, who died of self-inflicted gun shot wounds, as 29-year-old UK Thang.

Thang opened fire at the store in Collierville, on the outskirts of Memphis, at 1:30pm on Thursday, in what police have described as the “most horrific event in Collierville history”.

Collierville Police Chief Dale Lane revealed Thang had worked at the Kroger as a third-party vendor at a media conference on Friday.

“I’m not gonna give you his name today. I’m not giving him notoriety in this platform,” Mr Lane said. Police released his name soon after the press conference.

Police say the gunman who shot 15 people at a Kroger in Collierville, Tennessee was a third-party vendor for Kroger. His identity has not been released https://t.co/U7jG0qbT1e ^NEWS pic.twitter.com/0isrdjdV1Z

— Kaden Brightwell (@_Equable_) September 24, 2021

Ten victims were employees at the store, and five others were customers.

Memphis resident Olivia King died in the attack on Thursday afternoon.

Police revealed further details about the mass-shooting on Friday. Swat teams arrived within minutes of the shooting, and found staff hiding in freezers and locked closets.

“We removed people from freezers, closets, hiding in pallets,” Mr Lane said on Friday.

Police rescued one Kroger worker from the roof of the building, while others were found in offices scattered throughout the facility.

Store employee Brignetta Dickerson told WREG how she and several coworkers and customers had taken cover when the shooting started.

“I’m still in shock right now,” said Ms Dickerson, who has worked at the store for 32 years.

“But I was calm. I was calm and told the customers and my co-workers ‘Just sit down and relax. You’ll be okay.’”

Tennessee state representative Antonio Parkinson paid tribute to her bravery on Twitter.

“Thank you to Ms. Dickerson, 32 year employee of Kroger for leading your co-workers and customers to safety.”

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to all victims and their families and friends who were killed or injured at Kroger today,” Mr Parkinson added.

“This is an horrible act and these lives will never be the same. At some point we have to come together as a people and really l evaluate the state of our culture.

“This is becoming a recurring occurrence and it is unacceptable.”