At least 1 dead, 14 others injured after shooting at Memphis-area Kroger

By Rebekah Riess and Jenn Selva, CNN

At least one person was killed and 14 others injured in a shooting at Kroger in Collierville, Tennessee, police officials said Thursday afternoon.

The shooter was also found dead, Police Chief Dale Lane said.

Lane said at a news conference that 12 victims were injured, but town spokesperson Jennifer Casey later updated the total to 14.

An employee at the Kroger told CNN affiliate WMC that when the shooting started, she thought it was just “balloons popping.”

Brignetta Dickerson was working the cash register when she said the shooting began in the deli section.

She told WMC she ran with some of her coworkers to hide but the gunman came right behind them and started shooting.

“He kept on shooting, shooting, shooting,” Dickerson said. “He shot one of my coworkers in the head, and then shot one of the customers in the stomach, and then my other customer got kind of like cuts because of the asphalt.”

Dickerson, who has worked at Kroger for 32 years, said she was OK but a little scared and shaky.

At least one patient was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital’s location in Collierville, spokesperson Kimberly Alexander told CNN. She would not provide any information on the condition of the patient.

Casey told The Commercial Appeal newspaper she did not know the extent of the victims’ injuries.

Around 1:30 p.m. CT, Collierville Communications Center received a 911 call about an active shooter at the Kroger, Lane told reporters outside the store. The department’s first patrol car arrived four minutes later and other units began to flood the area, according to the chief.

When officers entered the store, they found people who had been shot. A SWAT team, patrol officers and other command staff members went aisle to aisle and room to room, bringing out employees who were hiding and helping the injured victims, Lane said.

Several employees were found hiding in freezers or locked in offices. “They were doing what they had been trained to do: Run, hide, fight,” Lane said.

The chief said he was part of a team that brought a Kroger employee down from the top of the building.

“At this time, we have still have a couple of active scenes that we are working. The suspected shooter’s vehicle is in the parking lot and we are waiting on some additional equipment to get here, to be able to safely check that vehicle as well as some property that’s on him,” the chief said.

Memphis Police tweeted they had gone to the store at 240 New Byhalia Road to assist.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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CNN’s Steve Almasy contributed to this report.