After a Friday incident in which a man shot and killed a woman in an Amazon facility at Horn Lake before later being shot to death by Memphis police, the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Madison County continues to prepare for a July 18 opening.
“We’re heartbroken by this violent act, and we extend our deepest sympathy to the victim’s family,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement. “We are working to support our team and ensure their safety. We’re also working closely with the police department as they lead the response and investigate.”
According to The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, the woman killed was Friday morning and later identified as 44-year-old Ebony Crockett.
The man killed was identified as Corey Brewer, 45, of Memphis.
Brewer was shot on the interstate at about 3:20 p.m., according to a Twitter statement by the Memphis Police Department, and no officers were injured.
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Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich called in the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to investigate the shooting.
The Horn Lake facility is one of two operational facilities in Mississippi, with a third center to come online in Canton on July 18.
The 700,000 square-foot facility at the Madison County Mega Site will bring more than 1,000 full-time jobs to the area. It will function as a holding and sorting facility for many of the products Amazon sells and ships and as a place where human workers will work alongside robots to fill orders and deliver packages.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the global supply chain has been thwarted, complicating shipping, spiking prices and decreasing output.
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When the facility was announced in November 2020, it was set to be operational a year later, with jobs filled by the 2021 holiday shopping season.
The onboarding process will begin the first week of June and will continue for 45 days until the beginning of operations. While the commitment is for 1,000 jobs, he said the number could jump to as many as 1,800 during the holiday season in November and December.
The Canton building is complete and ready. There is an expectation over the next 30 days, there will be a print, media, radio and social media blitz to reach potential employees and fill the 1,000 jobs being offered.
Ross Reily covers Business and Development for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or at 601-573-2952. You can follow him on Twitter @GreenOkra1.
Lucas Finton of the Memphis Commercial Appeal contributed to this story.
