Minnesota police arrested six men in a high-speed pursuit of the funeral of a 19-year-old man shot to death at the Mall of America in a shooting that unfolded during the nation’s busiest shopping season last month.
Johntae Hudson’s funeral was held Friday, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
Hudson was shot to death at the mall on Dec. 23, and St. Paul officers were stationed outside St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church and Elmhurst Cemetery during Friday services. They noticed a man with a gun and another man wanted for a non-fatal shooting on December 14 were present.
Police say the two men left the funeral in a van with five other men.
SHOOTING AT MALL OF AMERICA IN MINNESOTA: POLICE ARREST FIVE IN CONNECTION WITH SHOOTING THAT LEADS 1 DEAD
An officer stands inside the Nordstrom at Mall of America after a shooting, Friday, December 23, 2022, in Bloomington, Minnesota.
(AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
The vehicle stopped at a gas station, where officers tried to stop it, police said. One of the men jumped out of the truck and tried to flee before officers caught him.
The van left with the two men from the funeral still inside.
The police gave chase but lost sight of the vehicle. Later they found it abandoned. Four 19-year-old men and an 18-year-old man were found in the nearby area and arrested.
Authorities lock down the West Wing of the Mall of America after a shooting was reported on Friday, December 23, 2022, in Bloomington, Minnesota.
(Alex Kormann/Star Tribune via AP))
The 18-year-old was the man with the gun at the funeral. Officers searched the area and found a bag containing a 9mm pistol and the clothes the man was wearing at the funeral, St. Paul police Sgt. said. Mike Ernster said. The suspect in the Dec. 14 shooting who was at the funeral has not been found and is still being sought.
Police say Hudson was killed during an exchange of gunfire at the mall’s Nordstrom store on December 23.
A Bloomington police SWAT team subsequently raided a home and arrested five suspects, though only four of them were subsequently charged.
Security officers speak inside a store at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, following reports of gunfire on Friday, December 23, 2022.
(Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)
Prosecutors initially said 18-year-old Taeshawn Adams Wright of Minneapolis was charged with second-degree murder and second-degree assault, and two 17-year-olds were charged with second-degree rioting while armed with a dangerous weapon. A fourth suspect, a 17-year-old male, was later charged in Hennepin County District Court with second-degree murder and second-degree assault in connection with Hudson’s death.
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The shooting forced authorities to close the country’s largest mall on one of the last days of the Christmas shopping season.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
