Authorities in Georgia arrested a suspect on Tuesday who was wanted in connection with a fatal shooting at the Mall of America last month.
Bloomington, Minnesota, Police Chief Booker Hodges told reporters that the 17-year-old was taken into custody in Decatur, Georgia, by federal and state law enforcement officials. The suspect faces charges of second-degree murder and second-degree assault.
This comes after 19-year-old Johntae Hudson was shot and killed on Dec. 23 at the Minnesota mall, which is located in Bloomington.
MINNESOTA MAN FREE AFTER 1998 CONVICTION FOR WIFE’S MURDER VACATED
An officer stands inside Nordstrom at Mall of America after a shooting, Friday, Dec. 23, 2022, in Bloomington, Minn. A suspect wanted in connection with the fatal shooting at the mall in December was arrested in Georgia on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023.
((AP Photo/Abbie Parr))
Hudson was shot eight times and died during an altercation inside the mall’s Nordstrom store.
Mall security guards, witnesses and first responders attempted to save him while the mall went into lockdown during the holiday shopping season.
The suspect who was arrested was one of four suspects charged by prosecutors in Minnesota in December. They include two other 17-year-olds and 18-year-old Taeshawn Adams Wright. Wright faces counts of second-degree murder and second-degree assault, while the two 17-year-olds have been charged with second-degree riot while armed with a dangerous weapon.
GEORGIA PROSECUTOR WILL NOT CHARGE DEPUTY IN 2022 SHOOTING OF SUICIDAL MAN
Hodges announced Tuesday that police also arrested the teenage suspect’s mother in Golden Valley, Minnesota. She was charged with aiding and abetting the suspect for allegedly driving him to Georgia following the shooting.
The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, is home to over 500 stores.
((Photo by: Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images))
The suspect remains in custody in Georgia pending extradition to Minnesota.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The U.S. Marshals Service, Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office were involved in the arrest Tuesday, according to FOX 5 Atlanta.
“This is another example of guns being placed in the hands of immature young people, resulting in deadly consequences in what was once safe public places,” U.S. Marshal Thomas Brown said in a statement, the station reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
