COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – Words cannot fully express the amount of shock following a mass shooting at a neighborhood Kroger in Collierville, Tennessee – a suburb of Memphis.
Collierville Police say at least 13 people were shot, most with severe injuries, and two others are dead in the Memphis, TN suburb — including the suspected shooter.
Police Chief Dale Lane says this is “the most horrific event that has ever occurred in Collierville history.”
The employees and customers at the Kroger located on Byhalia and Poplar Avenue came under fire around 2:00 p.m. Thursday. Many running or hiding.
Brignetta Dickerson, who has been an employee at that Kroger location for almost 33 years, says she was working the cash register when shots rang out.
She says,”We thought it was balloons popping. When it kept on going and we was like ‘no it’s gunshots.”
Her instinct kicked in and she along with others ran for the back.
“And, here he comes right behind us and started shooting. And, he kept on shooting, shooting, shooting. He shot one of my co-workers in the head and shot one of my customers in the stomach.”
Amid the chaos she helped her co-worker, who she says was shot in the head.
Dickerson hears the young man in his 20s say, “I want my mother. Call my mother.”
Unfortunately, she was unable to reach his mother but says she’s going to keep trying.
“I left her a voicemail that he was alert and talking.”
Dickerson also describes what happened as police swarmed the scene. “Police came to the back and said ‘stay right there do not move.'”
While waiting for further instruction, she turns to a customer who is elderly and asks, “Are you okay?”
Dickerson says she was shaken but responds, “Yeah, I’m fine.”
She continues, “I called her daughter and told her ‘she’s okay. Don’t come right now, wait.'”
In the aftermath of the tragic shooting, Dickerson has this prayer, “That my coworker that got shot is doing better, and that he’s going to be healed. By the grace of God he was still alert, and by the grace of God I’m still here, and by the grace of God all the people who were with me are still with me.”
