NASHVILLE, TN — A Frito-Lay employee was killed early Sunday after a bullet pierced a metal wall at a Sam’s Club in Nashville, police said. Metro Nashville Police identified the victim as 55-year-old Paris Carlock of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Officers said Carlock was working inside the warehouse store on Antioch Pike when he was struck in the head. He was later found in the parking lot, taken to a local hospital, and pronounced dead.
Police said the gunfire may have been tied to an argument at a nearby bar, and investigators are now trying to determine who fired the shots and which vehicles may have been involved.
Police say bullet passed through store wall during overnight inventory work
The shooting happened around 4 a.m. ET at the Sam’s Club in the 1300 block of Antioch Pike. According to police, a bullet traveled through a side metal wall of the store before hitting Carlock inside the chip aisle.
WKRN reported that Carlock was doing product inventory at the time. The details indicate he was not outside the building when he was struck, but was working inside the warehouse as the gunfire reached the store.
The location of the shot raised immediate concern because the bullet appears to have entered from outside the building, making the store part of a wider sequence of events rather than the center of a confrontation. That is one reason investigators are examining what happened nearby before the gunfire reached Sam’s Club.
Victim identified as Paris Carlock of Murfreesboro
Police identified the victim as Paris Carlock, 55, and said he lived in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. WKRN reported that he was working for Frito-Lay inside the Sam’s Club when he was shot.
PepsiCo, which owns Frito-Lay, said it was deeply saddened by his death and extended condolences to Carlock’s family and loved ones. The company said it had been working with law enforcement and local officials as the case unfolded.
A Sam’s Club spokesperson also said the company was heartbroken by the incident and would continue cooperating with investigators. Both statements reflected the seriousness of the shooting and the fact that it happened while an employee was on the job.
Investigators focus on possible connection to nearby Lavou Lounge
Metro Nashville police said the gunfire may be connected to an argument at Lavou Lounge, a bar near the Sam’s Club. According to officers, people involved in the dispute were removed from the bar by security but kept arguing outside afterward.
Police told WKRN that shots were then heard as vehicles were driving away from the bar. Investigators have not publicly tied a specific person to the fatal shot, but they are treating the shooting as part of a broader sequence that began away from the store.
The possible bar connection gives detectives a narrower time frame and a likely set of movements to examine. It also suggests the bullet that killed Carlock may have been fired during a separate dispute that spilled into the area around Antioch Pike.
Homicide Unit opens case as police seek vehicles and witnesses
The Metro Nashville Police Department Homicide Unit has opened an investigation. Officers are looking for information about the shooting itself, as well as the vehicles that may have been present when the shots were fired.
Police asked anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers at (615) 742-7463. Officials said tips can be made anonymously and may qualify for a cash reward.
At this stage, investigators have not announced any arrests or named a suspect. The public request for help suggests detectives are still trying to reconstruct the path of the gunfire and identify the people who left the scene.
Workers and shoppers left facing a deadly burst of gunfire near Antioch Pike
The killing has drawn attention because it struck a worker inside a retail warehouse during an early-morning inventory shift. The shooting did not appear to stem from an incident inside Sam’s Club itself, but from gunfire that reached the building from outside.
That distinction matters for anyone who works or shops in the area, because it shows how a nearby dispute can create danger far beyond the original argument. Police have not said that Carlock was involved in the confrontation they are investigating.
For now, the case centers on a fatal stray bullet, a late-night dispute near a bar, and a homicide investigation that is still trying to piece together the exact chain of events. Authorities say they want help from the public as they continue that work.
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