#Tennessee Kroger attack victim described as ‘thoughtful’ widow

The person who was killed by a mass shooter inside a Kroger supermarket in Tennessee has been identified by her family as a widow with three sons, two of whom are in the military, according to reports.

Olivia King was killed and 12 other people wounded when the shooter — apparently an employee at the store in Collierville — opened fire Thursday before turning the gun on himself.

“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,” her son Wes King wrote on Facebook.

“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,” he added.

David Fraser, a friend of the murdered woman, said he went to the Regional One Hospital on behalf of her family because she had no relatives in the area.

“She was just sweet,” Fraser told the Commercial Appeal, crying.

His wife, Maureen Fraser, a member of Collierville’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen, accompanied him the hospital.

“Kind, polite, thoughtful,” she told the news outlet. “Remember when you were out of work and she gave us some money? Gave us an envelope with some money to help us at Christmas time.”

The couple said King, who was originally from San Antonio, had previously worked as a financial secretary at a local school and often attended church.

One of her sons serves in the Navy, another is in the Air Force and the third has just completed his doctorate, they told the outlet.

King’s husband died years ago “and she missed him so much,” David added.

“Our family is devastated by this senseless act of violence,” King’s family said in a statement Thursday night, Fox 13 reported.

“We ask that you pray for the repose of the soul of our mother, Olivia King. We also ask everyone for their prayers for all families and friends affected by the events today, as well as for God’s mercy on the shooter and his family. Thank you,” they added.

Maureen Fraser also shared her grief on Facebook.

“Please pray for my dear friend Olivia King and her amazing sons and family. I will miss her terribly,” she wrote.

“Pray for our town and all of our first responders, many many years of training was put to the test today and they did an remarkable job, it could have been so much worse.
Continue to pray for several others who were shot and are currently in surgery. Pray for the health care providers. Pray for the Kroger employees,” Maureen added.

Police arrived on the scene almost immediately after the shooting in the town of about 50,000 people about 30 miles east of Memphis in southwestern Tennessee.

“We found people hiding in freezers and in locked offices. They were doing what they had been trained to do — run, hide, fight,” Police Chief Dale Lane told reporters, calling the attack “the most horrific event that has occurred in Collierville history.”

The shooter was an employee who had been fired Thursday, WREG-TV reported, citing an unnamed law enforcement source.