Kroger mass shooting has far-reaching effects on the lives of Mid-Southerners.

On September 23, 2021, a normally peaceful Kroger store in Collierville, TN descended into chaos. Uk Thang a disgruntled employee of a Kroger vendor who had previously been asked to leave the store, returned and opened fire killing one customer and injuring thirteen others. Collierville police responded to 911 calls and arrived at the scene. Officers evacuated the store and discovered the assailant dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The reverberations of this attack have shaken the safety and security of Mid-Southerners and the implications of this heinous attack are still unfolding. A college instructor at a local community college, Sean Bradley, had several of the affected employees in his classes. Mr. Bradley stated that the next day one of his students recounted a harrowing tale of witnessing her coworker being shot during their online classroom session. She and another student reported not being able to access their vehicles in the parking lot of the store, and that work at the affected store indicated that Kroger had relocated them to another store while repairs were made to The Collierville store. Additionally, Mr. Bradley’s students related that they were given time off with pay.

WREG news reported that On October fourth, Kroger indicated at a Press release, that they have given a six-figure donation to a victims funding organization, nationalcompassion.org to seed a fund for the deceased and the directly affected victims. The National Compassion fund has started a gofundme campaign to assist the Victims. The go fund me currently has raised Twelve thousand dollars out of a twenty thousand dollar goal. According to the National compassion website “surviving family members of the woman killed, those who were wounded, and those who were present in the store and traumatized by this horrific event.” Donations to the survivors' fund can be made on gofundme.com. This event has impacted the community and the victims greatly and its effects will be felt far into the future