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PICTURED: Minnesota man, 19, gunned down during a ‘gang’ brawl at Mall of America: Five teens are arrested after stopping for FOOD at White Castle while fleeing – as cops hunt sixth suspect in connection with shooting
- The victim of the Friday night brawl at the Minnesota complex has been identified as 19-year-old Johntae HudsonĀ
- Five teenagers, three of them juveniles, have been arrested in connection with the Christmas weekend shooting – a sixth suspect is still being pursued
- The shooting is just the second homicide to ever occur at the Mall of America
Five teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the fatal shooting of a man, now identified as 19-year-old Johntae Hudson, at the Mall of America over Christmas weekend.
Two 18-year-olds and three 17-year-olds were arrested at their homes at 8.40am on Saturday morning, about 12 hours after a 19-year-old was fatally shot during a fight inside the massive shopping complex. A sixth suspect is still being pursued by police.
According to Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges, the five who were arrested stopped by a White Castle to satisfying their cravings for a bite after fleeing the scene.
‘The people we arrested here after the shooting, appears that they felt it was necessary to get something to eat. So they went to White Castle…and got a crave pack,’ said a clearly miffed Hodges.
Friday night’s victim was identified as 19-year-old Johntae Hudson of St. Paul
Wright and Depratto were arrested Saturday morning in connection with the fatal shooting that occurred at the Mall of America on Friday evening
The 18-year-olds involved in the brawl-turned-murder were identified as Taeshawn Wright and Deandre Depratto.
The 17-year-olds, being juveniles, were not identified publicly by the police.
The victim of the Friday evening brawl that was an escalation of ‘long-standing feud’ between two groups of teenagers, was identified as 19-year-old Johntae Hudson of St. Paul, Minnesota.
Hudson’s sister, Ja’Nayea, 22, tearfully explained that her brother was ‘supposed to go to the mall to find like a sweater to go with his shoes to go to his friend’s birthday that night.’
When Ja’Nayea got a call that he brother had been shot said she said she initially ‘hoped like it was just like a minor bullet wound or something.’
That hope fell when she heard first responders were ‘trying to find a pulse.’
A close friend of the victim, Hawi Abdurahman, said the shooting never should have occurred at the Mall of America in the days leading up to Christmas.
‘Street code is you don’t do that stuff around families, like kids at that,’ he said. ‘This should not be happening in a mall where there’s children, people shopping.’
‘Stay away from the wrong crowds because the wrong crowds is going to lead you to destruction,’ said Hudson.
Police Chief Booker Hodges said the suspects fled the scene and stopped by a White Castle for a snack after the fatal Friday night shooting
The fatality is just the second homicide to ever occur at the Mall of America, and the first involving a firearm
The family has established a GoFundMe page to assist with funeral expenses.
Hodges initially reported that the suspects were ‘flat out’ refusing to cooperate, adding that some of them refused to share their names.
The Friday fatality is just the second homicide to ever occur in the Mall of America’s history and the first involving a firearm. The first was a 1999 domestic-related stabbing.
‘If you come here and murder people in our mall you get one of these at Christmas,’ said Hodges, holding up a orange prison jumpsuit and matching orange Santa hat.
‘Five people got one of these today.
‘We’re not playing that here. You’re going to jail. And we’re going to make sure that anybody else that helped these folks are going to jail, too,’ he said.
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