Dollar Tree W2 Former Employee

[Brunilda Chestnut]

Investigators identified a suspect, 21-year-old Jalen Thomas, and learned he was a former store employee who knew the woman, according to Lawrence police chief Gary Woodruff. Thomas was taken into custody within two hours, he said.

Four people died, including a juvenile, who were killed in two separate shootings Saturday. IMPD officers found Olivia Katherine Brown, 24, and Darien Jamar Wiley, 27, just after midnight dead from gunshot wounds in the 2100 block of Ruckle Street near East 21st Street and Central Avenue. Police are still searching for suspects and witnesses

Later, at about 2 a.m., police arrived at an apartment complex in the 7800 block of Red Mill Drive to find Nicholas Powell, 18, and Jhavon Fisher, 17, with gunshot injuries. One died at a hospital and the other died at the scene.

A Dollar Tree representative provided the following statement to Progressive Grocer: "Zeroed-In is a vendor that we and other companies use. They informed us that they identified a security incident, and they provided notice of the incident to current and former employees."

Stolen data such as names, Social Security numbers and birthdays can be used for identity theft, which thieves can use to commit crimes under an individual's name or to damage a person's reputation. The Identity Theft Resource Center tracked 2,116 data compromises in the first three quarters of 2023, breaking the all-time high of 1,862 compromises in 2021.

According to The Street, hackers can also use stolen data to make a profit by selling it to the dark web. For example, a Social Security number can sell for roughly $1 each on the dark web, according to an estimate from Keeper Security. Complete medical records are the most profitable for cybercriminals as they can sell for up to $1,000 each.

She loved working at the Dollar Tree, and she was training to be a manager. She and her coworkers had fun decorating the Indianapolis store on Pendleton Pike with stuffed animals and playing light-hearted pranks on each other. Her regulars remembered her demeanor and smile.

That afternoon, a former employee came into the store and shot her four times, including once in the head, after he initiated an argument with her. Bennett, 25, died from her injuries later that day at IU Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.

Jalen Thomas, 21, was arrested on suspicion of murder charge shortly after. According to the probable cause affidavit for his arrest, Thomas bought a handgun after she refused to process a return for him a few weeks ago after he no longer worked for the store. Witnesses said Thomas was fired. He told police he quit.

Ford didn't deviate from her schedule Tuesday morning. She got up at 6 a.m., left the house she lived in with her daughter, got her coffee and sat outside the store watching reporters film news clips about her "best friend." She stayed there until a manager told her she needed to leave to eat because she had not had a meal since the day before.

About a dozen family members gathered to talk about Bennett on Tuesday afternoon. They all repeated the same characteristics about "Jazzy;" she was a "bright light," a "hard worker" and the "baby" of the family. She worked several jobs, including as an event worker at venues downtown. She was the youngest of six, many of whom last saw her a few weeks ago at a family game night.

Diana Jacobs, another aunt of Bennett's, said she was like the glue in their family, always checking in and doing favors. She called Bennett, her "Fave," a nickname they referred to each other as. She said they always went on adventures together like going to concerts, the park and the Musical Swings nearby. Bennett was excited because the city was reopening the Lawrence library, and Jacobs said she was planning to go often.

Jacobs mentioned how she loved every holiday and knew exactly what gifts to get someone to make their day. It wasn't just Christmas and birthdays either, she said, because she has gotten a present on St. Patrick's Day before. When Jacobs mentioned her abilities, smiles lit up across a few of her relatives' tear-streaked faces as they talked about her gift-giving knack.

Ford said it's hard to live, hard to breathe, knowing what happened to her daughter. Bennett's bedroom door at home is now locked. Everyone knew she was special, she said, and what happened to her was heartless and debilitating.

Before killing three Black people in a racially motivated shooting and then himself at a Jacksonville Dollar General store on Saturday, Ryan Christopher Palmeter, a 21-year-old white man from neighboring Clay County, stopped at another dollar store, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said late Monday afternoon, sharing new information in the case.

Based on new video evidence, the revised timeline of events, which included a previously reported stop at Edwards Waters University, a historically Black university, suggested that the Dollar General store may not have been the shooter's initial target.

Moments later, at 12:31 p.m., a First Coast Security vehicle entered the lot and parked in front of the Family Dollar, passing Palmeter as he retrieved a small bag from the back of his Honda Element and got back into the vehicle, Waters said.

At 12:36 p.m., he opened the driver's door, but remained in the vehicle. Two minutes later, while still seated, he closed the door before backing out of his parking space and leaving the lot at 12:39 p.m.

"It doesn't appear ... that he wanted to face anyone that may cause him any issues," Waters said, responding to a reporter's question. "It looks like he wanted to take action at the Family Dollar ... but he did not, I think, because he got impatient, he got tired of waiting."

After leaving the dollar store, Palmeter drove his Honda to the campus of Edward Waters University, where he parked at M.B. Salter Hall, a residence dorm, at 12:48 p.m., according to a timestamp on the video.

There, video footage shows him exiting the vehicle and opening its rear hatch, retrieving and putting on a tactical vest and a blue, button-up shirt over the vest before getting back behind the wheel as a campus security vehicle pulls into the lot and parks at 12:51 p.m.

"It was that history, that progress, that Black excellence that this feeble, virulent-minded, white domestic terrorist sought to stamp out by aiming his original target at Edward Waters University," Faison told reporters at a Monday news conference.

"[The shooter] came to where he thought African Americans would be, and that's Florida's first HBCU," Faison said. "It's also not lost on us he came to the New Town community. This is the heart of the Black community in Jacksonville."

Earlier, Palmeter texted his father at 1:18 p.m., telling him to go into his room in the Orange Park home he shared with his parents to check his computer, where he found at least three manifestos, one each for his parents, the media and federal agents.

Waters said the shooter's manifesto was still being combed through by federal and local law enforcement officials to make sure there are no additional actors and to "trace the intelligence to make sure that there's nothing out there rising up from this," he said, noting it could be a week or two before they release the manifesto.

And it was his "disgusting ideology of hate," Waters said, that led to Saturday's shooting deaths of three Black people, identified as Angela Michelle Carr, 52, who was shot while sitting in her car; Anolt Joseph "A.J." Laguerre Jr., 19, a Dollar General employee; and Jerrald De'Shaun Gallion, 29, who was shot when he entered the store with his girlfriend.

Another former employee with the user name u/American-Nidiot added that there isn't enough time to do everything before the store closes. "Issue here is, for people that don't know, is that company policy is that there is to be NO FREIGHTING after 5pm, yet I'm expected to do 2 hours of freight and then clean the store in roughly the remaining 3 hours," they wrote in the same thread.

This build-up of new shipments has even led Dollar Tree to get cited for safety issues. In Feb. 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued violations because merchandise was blocking regular and emergency exits, and storage boxes were piled too high, making it unsafe for both shoppers and employees alike.

In 2020, OSHA fined Dollar Tree to the tune of half a million dollars for operating under dangerously dirty conditions. Additionally, in Jan. 2022, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) uncovered a rodent infestation at a Family Dollar warehouse. (Family Dollar is wholly owned and operated by Dollar Tree.)

Dollar Tree's robust frozen food section might seem like a good deal, and financially, it is. You're probably fine with the fruit, snacks, and any non-perishables that populate the freezers. Steer clear, however, of frozen steak, salmon, and other animal proteins. Even the staffers do.

And one store manager previously told Mental Floss that the steak feels like rubber. "I don't eat any of the frozen fish or rib eyes," another Dollar Tree employee added. "I don't trust frozen seafood or meat that costs a dollar."

"I refuse to buy the cheapo brand cold cuts and meat. They tend to be filled with way more fat, salt, and additives than other brands," they said. They also suggest staying away from the toasted oats cereal because it "tastes like you're eating air or cardboard" as well as the "cheapo brand coffee" that they say is "terrible."

In response to a Reddit thread asking, "Why is there only one register open," Dollar Tree employee, u/Amorette3 said, "There's usually one manager and one cashier." She added that things may get more backed up when one person is occupied with blowing up balloons or is on break.

NOTE: Best Life only includes information from social media and job boards when there is corroboration from multiple sources. These comments have not been independently verified, however, and are the opinions of the people who posted them.

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