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Police identify woman killed in Tennessee grocery store shooting

1 killed, 14 injured; shooter also dead
Kroger grocery store shooting
Posted at 7:53 AM, Sep 24, 2021
and last updated 2021-09-24 14:08:15-04

Police in Collierville, Tennessee, have identified the victim who was killed in a mass shooting at a local grocery store on Thursday.

Collierville Police Chief Dale Lane said Friday that Olivia King was the woman who was killed at a Kroger 30 miles east of Memphis on Thursday.

According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, King was a longtime resident of the area.

Lane also said that the number of people injured in Thursday's shooting had jumped to 14. He added that those 14 victims were currently "stable" but said several victims remained in "very, very serious condition."

Ten of the victims shot were Kroger employees, while five others were customers at the store.

While Lane chose not to identify the suspect during Friday's press conference, the Commercial appeal and WREG-TV in Memphis report that officials later identified the suspect as 29-year-old Uk Thang. Lane said that a search warrant had been served at the suspect's residence and that police collected evidence.

The shooting occurred Thursday at around 1:30 p.m. CT. The suspect, who Lane said was a third-party vendor with Kroger, entered the store and began firing.

Lane said that the entire incident took place in a "matter of minutes." A customer flagged down a police car in the parking lot, and officers quickly responded to the store.

Police say the suspect died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound as they approached the scene.

Collierville Fire Chief Buddy Billings said first responders were prepared to respond because police and fire officials held joint training on June 4 for such an event.

"Training paid off yesterday," Billings said, noting that the training had saved lives.

Officials declined to give specifics on a suspected motive, adding that they would release more information in the coming weeks.