The father of Mayor Greg Fischer's chief equity officer was one of two victims in a shooting at a Louisville Kroger this week.

Fischer acknowledged a story first reported by the Courier Journal that the male victim is Maurice Stallard. He is the father of Kellie Watson, who has served in the mayor's office for several years.

"This one is especially painful because, as has been reported, one of the victims was the father of a member of my team," Fischer said during a press conference Thursday.

The family has declined to comment, but those who grew up knowing Stallard describe the 69-year-old military veteran and retired GE employee as a generous family man who moved his family to the suburban city of Jeffersontown for a middle-class life.

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Stallard's visitation will be 5-8 p.m. Monday at A.D. Porter & Sons Southeast while his funeral services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday at St. Bartholomew Catholic Church, 2042 Buechel Bank Road.

"Most of the families there like my father, who was a childhood friend of Mr. Stallard, migrated out that way over time to take advantage of the American dream," said Nicole Talbert, a sales manager whose father was a childhood friend of Stallard's.

A source with close ties to the Watson family said that just before 3 p.m., the gunman shot Stallard in the back while his 12-year-old grandson stood next to him. They were shopping for poster board, the source said.

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Stallard's grandson sprinted out of the grocery and into the parking lot where he pleaded to use a stranger's cellphone to call his mother, the source said. He told Watson that his granddad had been shot.

The Jefferson County Coroner's Office identified Stallard and Vickie Jones, 67, who are both black, as the two victims of Wednesday's shooting at the Kroger, 9080 Taylorsville Road.

Stallard was a 1967 Male High School graduate who lived in the Jeffersontown area for decades. He was a member of the St. Bartholomew Catholic Church, Newburg Tennis Association, accoring to his obituary.

Jessica Holman, 42, who works for TARC, said Stallard was a family friend. She said that in Jeffersontown's tight-knit black community he was known as a warm, easy-going man who always greeted people with a hug.

"It's complete sorrow in our community right now," Holman said. "He's the same age as my parents and his kids are my age, so we all experienced a rite of passage together growing up. Mr. Stallard looks just like my dad, and many times my nephew walks with my dad in that Kroger — my parents go to that store — it's their store."

Talbert, 42, said she grew up a few houses down from Stallard's family and that black Jeffersontown residents "were each others' village."

Haven Harrington, 44, a sports radio host, said he knew Stallard through his daughter since high school. He said Stallard was known as a hard-working family man, and that he can't fathom the pain his loved ones are going through.

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"I'm thinking about his grandson, and what he is going through and what he feels after watching his grandfather being murdered in front of him," Harrington said. "It is infuriating to even think about this, but to me what this represents is a symbol of where we are as a country."

Fischer said during his press conference that he was sick, heartbroken and angry over the shooting. He said he visited Watson's family on the same day of the shooting and asked the community to respect their privacy.

Watson took over as Fischer's chief equity officer last year and is focusing on improving the city's hiring practices and other goals to related to racial equity in Louisville. She previously served as the mayor's general counsel and before that as the city’s director of human resources.

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Reporters Allison Ross, Darcy Costello and Matt Glowicki contributed to this story. Reporter Phillip M. Bailey can be reached at 502-582-4475 or pbailey@courierjournal.com. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/philb.