Mother of UF band director killed in Tennessee shooting

The mother of a University of Findlay band director was killed in a mass shooting Thursday afternoon in Collierville, Tennessee. A gunman attacked a grocery store in the upscale Tennessee suburb, killing one person and wounding 12 others before he was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at the store, authorities said. According to a social media post by University of Findlay Assistant Professor of Visual and Performing Arts and Director of Bands Wes King, the woman killed in the shooting was his mother, Olivia King. In a post made Thursday, King wrote: "Friends and family: I cannot believe I am typing this, but my mother Olivia King was one of the victims today at the shooting in Collierville at Kroger. I normally don't post publicly about Mom's medical concerns, but this is obviously different. "I received a phone call while in a meeting from a stranger. He informed me that Mom was hit during an active shooting scene, and that I was marked at her emergency contact. She was breathing at the time he called me." King noted that he was on the road, hurrying to get home as quickly and safely as possible. In an update later, King wrote: "Dear friends, it is with a heavy heart that I must inform you that my mother has died to her wounds. I spoke directly to the trauma surgeon. She was shot directly in the chest. EMTs attempted CPR until the hospital. They tried to save her at the hospital to no avail. I apologize for the graphic details, but this type of crime needs to stop being glossed over and sanitized. No one deserves this. "We will continue to update family and friends with funeral arrangements and other news as it becomes available." King was named director of bands in July 2020. He oversees the marching and pep bands at the university, in addition to the wind ensemble, symphonic band and jazz ensemble. Prior to coming to Findlay, King held the position of graduate assistant at the University of Memphis, where he worked with the athletic bands and concert bands, while he worked on completing his doctorate of music in wind conducting. Before that, he founded the band program at Siena Heights University. He received his master's of music in instrumental conducting from the University of Arkansas, and his bachelor's of music education in instrumental music from Mississippi State University. "This is the only position I've had in my career where I actually just get to focus on being a conductor and band director, and so for that it's been outstanding," he said of his position at UF in a June 2021 interview with The Courier. King said he has always loved music. Like a lot of other students, he joined the band in fifth grade. "I just loved band so much as a high school student. I loved marching band. I loved concert band. I just loved the experience, and so I decided that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to spend my life teaching students to love music," he said. According to the Associated Press, Collierville Police Chief Dale Lane said the shooting broke out at a Kroger grocery in Collierville, 30 miles east of Memphis. Authorities said Friday that the shooter did not appear to target anyone specifically as he rampaged through the building. Still, the outcome could have been worse, he said. The shooter, a "third-party vendor" who police said worked at the store on a daily basis, died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound within a couple of minutes of police arriving at the Kroger. The gunman, who Collierville Police Chief Dale Lane said acted alone, was later identified by Major David Townsend as UK Thang. Police searched his home Thursday and removed electronic devices, Lane said. "We all want to know the why," Lane said of the shooter's motive. "But today, less than 24 hours, we're not ready to tell you that." Kroger worker Brignetta Dickerson told WREG-TV she was working a cash register when she heard what at first she thought were balloons popping. "And, here he comes right behind us and started shooting," Dickerson said. "And, he kept on shooting, shooting, shooting. He shot one of my coworkers in the head and shot one of my customers in the stomach." Lane said police received a call around 1:30 p.m. about the shooting and arrived almost immediately, finding multiple people with gunshot wounds upon entering the building. He said officers of every rank ran into the building and were joined by off-duty fireman. There was no delay in providing medical help, he said. "Nobody wants to go into that scene, I can promise you," Lane said. "I mean, there were bloody people running out of that building, and there was not one blue uniform that hesitated, from the bottom all the way up. We're in there trying to help." Lane said a police SWAT team and other officers went aisle to aisle plucking panicked people from hiding in freezers and locked offices and taking them out safely. Jason Lusk, 39, had just left a tool store beside Kroger when he heard some women screaming in the parking lot about a shooter. He didn't see the gunman, but heard 10 to 15 rounds in rapid succession at the grocery store. "It sounded like they were directly over my head," he said, adding he could feel the concussion of every shot and knew the weapon was powerful. "As the firing started, I dove in front of my vehicle onto the ground to provide the most cover for myself and instructed the people around me panicking, trying to get into the cars, not to get in their cars, but to actually hide," he said.