Stray Bullet Kills 55-Year-Old Frito-Lay Worker in Nashville Sam's Club

Q: How could a routine early-morning inventory shift inside a major retail store turn deadly due to an outside dispute?

A routine inventory shift turned deadly because a gun battle outside the store sent a stray bullet through Sam’s Club’s metal exterior wall and into the sales floor, where Paris Carlock was working. Police say Carlock, a 55-year-old Frito-Lay worker from Murfreesboro, was counting products in the chip aisle shortly after 4 a.m. at the Sam’s Club on Antioch Pike when he was struck in the head. Investigators believe the shot did not originate inside the store. Instead, it came from an argument that began inside nearby Lavo Lounge, continued after security removed those involved, and escalated into gunfire as several vehicles left the area. That chain of events shows how people far removed from a dispute can be exposed when bullets are fired in a commercial corridor. Even inside a large retail building, workers are not fully shielded if rounds can penetrate exterior materials such as metal wall panels. In this case, police said one bullet passed through the wall and hit Carlock in what should have been a controlled indoor workplace. Authorities have described Carlock as an innocent victim. Store employees tried to help him immediately, and he was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he died. Detectives are still trying to identify the people involved and the vehicles seen leaving the scene. The case underscores a recurring public-safety risk: disputes that spill outside venues and escalate to gunfire can kill bystanders well beyond the immediate scene.

2 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 6

Paris Carlock, 55, was struck in the head shortly after 4 a.m. while counting Frito-Lay products in a Nashville Sam’s Club and later died at a hospital.
Police said the bullet came from gunfire outside nearby Lavo Lounge, where an argument that began inside continued after security removed those involved.
One round pierced the store’s metal exterior wall and hit Carlock in the middle of the store, prompting staff to rush to help what police called an innocent victim.
Homicide detectives are pursuing leads, but no arrests or suspect or vehicle descriptions had been released as of Sunday; police asked witnesses to contact Crime Stoppers.