Collierville police are searching for two men involved in a shooting in a busy parking lot Thursday morning.
It happened at 7:00 a.m. in the Walmart parking lot in the 500 block of West Poplar Avenue. No one was hit or injured.
Authorities are working to ease concerns, saying this shooting was not a random act of violence.
Still this incident rattled the nerves of frequent shoppers.
“Collierville is so safe, I’m actually quite stunned,” says Ronda Buchanan.
Collierville Walmart shoppers were startled and surprised after a shot was fired at an employee, missing the man but hitting a car in the parking lot.
“This is definitely an event where we know that the suspect targeted the victim in the case,” says Collierville Police Captain Chris Locke.
Capt. Locke said two men approached the worker as he left work, fired the shot, and took off on Poplar in a red car.
“We will bring all the resources and personnel that we can to bear on a case like this,” says Capt. Locke.
While things returned to normal, shoppers promised they’d be even more alert and vigilant at this and other busy parking lots in Collierville.
“I don’t know where these people are coming from but it’s kind of scary,” says Evelyn Johnston.
“I won’t let anyone change my lifestyle and they win. I won’t let them win,” says Buchanan.
Collierville police said despite some well publicized criminal incidents in recent months, overall crime is flat in this community.
“We are not immune to crime, but at this point what we are dealing with is some isolated events where they were specifically targeting people or locations,” says Capt. Locke.
Collierville crimes with guns this week followed a string of car and home burglaries caught on camera in December. Earlier this month vandals, who were caught, also damaged Collierville schools.
“It is concerning but in the broader scope of crime trends I think it’s important for the public, for our community to know we are not seeing spikes,” says Capt. Locke.
Recently launched features on the CPD website allows residents to crime map areas and listen to live radio dispatch.
“I feel like it’s a blip.” Sandra Faken tells Local 24 her neighborhood is also active in keeping everyone in the loop on Facebook. “We just like to let people know, remind them of keep your cars locked, keep your garage doors down just be aware of your surroundings.”
The Walmart is equipped with several security cameras pointed at the parking lot. Anyone with information is asked to call Collierville police.
