Family says Walmart employees refused to let people shelter during tornado warning

COLUMBIA, Tenn. (WSMV/Gray News) - On Wednesday, after seeing the baseball-sized hail falling in her front yard in Hohenwald, Tennessee, Sandy Goff’s immediate thought was of her son Cody Frizzell and his fiancé.

Frizzell was driving in Columbia, and Goff knew the storm was heading their way.

“I couldn’t think of them being out in it. That’s what scared me,” Goff said.

Frizzell said the sky was bright and sunny when his mother called, warning him of what was coming. He asked her where they should go.

“Where’s the best place where we could stop and seek shelter? And she said Walmart,” Frizzell said.

With his mother still on the line and heavy rain starting to fall, Frizzell said he and his fiancé approached the store at 2200 Brookmeade Drive in Columbia where employees in blue Walmart vests were standing.

“One of the people stopped (his fiancé) and said, ‘No, you can’t come in. There’s a tornado warning. We’re not letting anyone in,’” Frizzell said. “I said, ‘Where are we supposed to go?’ And she said, ‘I don’t care, but you can’t stay here.’”

Goff, listening on the line, was irate. “He said they’re not letting us in. And I said, ‘What? What do you mean they’re not letting you in?’” Goff said.

Frizzell said he and his fiancé weren’t the only ones prevented from entering the store.

“There was a couple behind us and they weren’t letting them in either,” Frizell said.

WSMV4 Investigates spoke with the manager at the Columbia Walmart, but she said she could not comment and referred our questions to corporate communications.

Brian Little, global communications director for Walmart, wrote in an email to WSMV4 Investigates: “The safety of our customers during weather events like what occurred recently in Columbia, TN is a priority. During the storm customers inside our store as well as others who requested to enter were allowed to shelter in place. While we can’t confirm who this individual spoke with, we do allow people to shelter in place inside our stores.”

Frizzell said he and his fiancé rushed to another store that agreed to allow them to shelter in place.

WSMV4 Investigates spoke with a manager at the store, and she confirmed that they sheltered people who had been turned away from Walmart.

“I’m angry. Hurt. And if something had happened to them, I don’t know what I would have done,” Goff said.