On a Sunday evening in Nashville, Tennessee, what began as a shopping trip for Avery Collier and his girlfriend ended in a senseless tragedy. The 40-year-old man was fatally shot on January 3, 2021, inside a Target store on Charlotte Pike following a verbal altercation. Collier and his girlfriend had just entered the store when they had a brief exchange of words with another man near the entrance.
The two men did not know each other.
A short time later, their paths crossed again near the electronics department, leading to a second verbal confrontation. It was during this exchange that the other man, identified as 29-year-old David Van Dyke, drew a handgun and opened fire on Collier. Even after Collier collapsed to the floor, Van Dyke continued to shoot him. Avery Collier died at the scene. He was unarmed.
In the chaos that followed the gunfire, Van Dyke fled the store along with other patrons. However, he soon returned to the front of the Target, where police had begun to arrive. There, he placed his gun in a planter and surrendered to the officers, admitting that he was the shooter. Van Dyke was arrested and subsequently charged with criminal homicide.
Friends and family remembered Avery Collier as a kind and 'bubbly' person, a talented high school basketball player, and a loving father and fiancé. His death was a sudden and violent end to a life that was deeply cherished by those who knew him.
