Suspect Lavon Longstreet arrested weeks after deadly Mall of America shooting that killed 19-year-old Johntae Hudson

In Georgia, a person who was wanted in connection with the deadly shooting at the Mall of America in December 2022 was caught.

Lavon Longstreet, 17, was arrested on January 17 at a home on Kenridge Parkway in Decatur, Georgia without there being any kind of incident. The arrest was made by the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force of the United States Marshals Service, in conjunction with the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, the Bloomington Minnesota Police Department, and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office.

Johntae Hudson, 19, from St. Paul was killed in the shooting that took place on December 23, 2022, inside the mall that was located in Bloomington, Minnesota.

According to the investigators, it is possible that the shooting was connected to a “long-standing dispute” between the two groups who were engaged. An incident broke out in Nordstrom between a group of five to nine people, and one of the males in the group pulled out a handgun and shot the 19-year-old victim multiple times, according to the police. After being held under lockdown for a time, the shopping centre was eventually cleared out.

In December, the authorities detained five other people in connection with the incident; these arrests included three males aged 17 and two males aged 18 respectively. There were four people charged, and Longstreet was one of them. He was charged based on a warrant.

“This is again another illustration of how young individuals who lack maturity are being given access to firearms, which leads to tragic outcomes in settings that were previously considered to be risk-free public spaces. The United States Marshals Service will continue to collaborate with our state and local partners in order to remove these firearms from circulation and improve the safety of our neighbourhoods “According to a release that was issued to FOX 5, U.S. Marshal Thomas Brown stated.

Longstreet is being accused of murder in the second degree and assault in the second degree. In the meanwhile, he will wait in detention in Georgia until being extradited.