Charges: Mall of America shooters chased, confronted, killed 19-year-old
Prosecutors did not disclose a motive for the killing
Updated 4:45 p.m.
Charges filed Thursday against four teens detailed a chaotic scene Friday at the Mall of America's Nordstrom store before the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Johntae Hudson.
Prosecutors say several males were arguing in the men's clothing department when four of them ran after Hudson and two of his friends.
Witnesses described seeing two men brandishing semiautomatic handguns with extended magazines who argued with Hudson before chasing and shooting him multiple times then fleeing the store, according to the complaint.
Prosecutors allege 18-year-old Taeshawn Adams-Wright and the others — all age 17 — surrounded Hudson, and one of the teens tackled him. Adams-Wright and another of the 17-year-olds allegedly stood over Hudson and opened fire, according to the charges.
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Hudson appears to have fired his own gun twice. He suffered eight gunshot wounds and three additional graze wounds.
A woman who was shopping with her teenage daughter suffered a graze wound.
Adams-Wright is charged with second-degree intentional murder and second-degree assault.
Documents posted later Thursday afternoon show the second alleged shooter, identified in the complaint as 17-year-old “L.L,” has also been charged with second-degree murder. The complaint said L.L. is on the run and believed to have left Minnesota. Investigators were expected to seek authority for a nationwide manhunt.
The other two 17-year-olds are charged with rioting. MPR News does not name juveniles unless they are charged as adults.
Prosecutors in the charging documents did not disclose a motive for the killing or say what started the fight.
In a statement Thursday, Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges said the investigation remains active, and “we expect additional arrests and criminal charges associated with this case in the near future.” Hodges added that the investigation has been difficult “because those involved have been, and continue to be, uncooperative.”
Police from Edina, St. Louis Park and Minnetonka SWAT teams executed a search warrant at a Shelard Parkway address in St. Louis Park Saturday morning. They arrested five people, three 17-year-olds and two 18-year-olds.
Jail records show that the second 18-year-old arrested was released from custody just before 2 p.m. Thursday after prosecutors did not file charges within the time required by law.
At a news conference Saturday, Hodges said the incident was the first firearm-related homicide in the mall, which opened in 1992.
In August, gunfire erupted at the mall following a confrontation. No one was injured. Five people were charged in the incident. In October the mall installed a metal detector at one of its entrances. A shooting last December on New Year’s Eve left two people injured.
The mall this week said it is putting in new security measures in response to the most recent shooting. That includes random bag checks at entrances and a greater security and police presence.