An unknown assailant shot and killed the president and chief executive officer of the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce Thursday night.
That man, Phil Trenary, 64, took over as president in 2014, and he helped Pinnacle become a $1 billion company between 1997 and 2011, according to Fortune.
The shooting occurred in downtown Memphis, at the 500 block of South Front, which is a neighborhood of high-end apartment buildings, according to various media reports.
Trenary died at Regional One Health hospital.
The suspect, according to Memphis police, is a male African-American with dreadlocks hairstyle and a blue shirt. Police said the suspect was in a white four-door Ford F-150 truck, possibly an extended cab.
Police said they have not determined the shooter’s motive.
According to police, Trenary was leaving a nearby Chamber event, the 4-mile Move it Memphis race, when the shooting happened.
“At this point, it does appear that the victim was alone when the shooting occurred,” according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
“(The suspect) parked along the sidewalk on South Front, got out of his vehicle and approached the victim, at which time the victim was shot.”
No one at the Memphis Police Department returned The Tennessee Star’s request for comment Friday.
According to Fortune, Trenary, before working at Pinnacle, founded Exec Express Airlines in his home state of Oklahoma in 1984. The company later moved to Texas, where it was renamed Lone Star Airlines. He moved to Memphis in 1997.
“Three years after leaving the airline industry in 2011, Trenary was named president and CEO of the Memphis Chamber of Commerce, where he created the Chairman’s Circle, a group of business leaders working towards improving the community,” Fortune reported.
“He was also a leader in supporting minorities, women, and locally owned businesses, the Tennessean reports.”
According to the Commercial Appeal, Trenary “is one of the most prominent victims of homicide in recent Memphis history.”
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
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