Taeshawn Adams Wright, 18, has been charged with second-degree murder in the Mall of America shooting that left 19-year-old Johntae Hudson dead.
According to charges, Hudson was shot eight times and died in the men’s section at Nordstrom.
Witnesses, mall security guards, and first responders tried to save him. Police found cartridge casings near Hudson’s body, along with a .40 caliber firearm that was “determined to be associated” with Hudson.
Two 17-year-old boys were also charged in juvenile court with second-degree riot, a felony.
Two others were arrested on Dec. 24 in connection to the shooting, but they have not yet been charged because some suspects have refused to cooperate with the investigation, Police Chief Booker Hodges told the Star Tribune.
“We expect additional arrests and criminal charges associated with this case in the near future,” Hodges said. “Our efforts to lock up everyone responsible for this incident will not cease.”
Surveillance video from the mall and Nordtrom captured the shooting and the events leading up to it, the criminal complaint said.
The video shows the victim walking with two of his friends and attempting to get on an escalator to the second floor, but was blocked by a group. Shots were fired shortly after.
“As the shooting was unfolding, a mother and her teenage daughter were shopping in the men’s department. The video captured them falling to the ground and trying to take cover mere feet from where the shots were being fired,” the complaint said.
Gov. Tim Walz said after the shooting that the violence at the mall on Friday night was “absolutely unacceptable.” He said he was in touch with local officials to provide support and resources.
This is the second lockdown Mall of America has gone on this year–shots fired outside the Nike store prompted a lockdown in August.
On New Year’s Eve of 2021, the mall went into lockdown after two people were shot on the third level of the mall.
Mall spokesperson Laura Utecht said metal detectors were added to the mall’s north entrance in October in a testing phase, but they were not operational during the most recent shooting.
Other security features — including cameras, K9, bike patrol, and plainclothes officers — have been put into place, Utecht said.
