MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The man seen standing on the roof during the deadly mass shooting at a Collierville Kroger is speaking out on his experience.
Andre Barlow was trapped on the roof of the Kroger Thursday as bullets flew in the store below. Barlow, who works for a third-party contractor, was there inspecting the roof.
“Whenever they have a roof leak, I’m the one to come to that store,” Barlow said.
Another Kroger contractor, 29-year-old Uk Thang, is the one who opened fire in the store.
Kroger employee Lawanda Clark says she’d seen Thang meeting with managers hours earlier following months of bizarre and baffling behavior.
“Licking his tongue out and sticking his finger up at women,” Clark said. “When I first got there, they kind of warned me that he didn’t like people speaking to him.”
Thang returned to the store around 1:30 p.m.
“I heard some pops and I’m like, ‘What in the world is that?’” Barlow said.
His question was quickly answered when hordes of frightened customers and employees began pouring into the parking lot. Some took refuge in this gated dumpster area.
Barlow watched as Thang exited the store before turning his gun on them.
“Opened the gate and just start shooting. Pow, pow, pow, pop,” Barlow said.
Police believe Thang had already shot himself by the time they arrived, four minutes after the first 911 calls. But that wasn’t immediately clear to those on scene.
“I hear people across the street in the other parking lot saying ‘The shooter is on the roof,’ and that’s when I threw my hands up in the air, placed them on my head,” Barlow said. “Man, it was really frightening.”
The Kroger is still an active scene, and Kroger has said the store will be remain closed until further notice.
Barlow isn’t sure if anyone of the workers he’s gotten to know over the years were among those who were shot, but he’s keeping all of them in his prayers.