Mall of America Shooting Suspect Arrested in Georgia

(KNSI) — On Tuesday, one of four people charged with the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Johntae Hudson at Mall of America on December 23rd was arrested in Decatur, Georgia.

Lavon Semaj Longstreet was charged in Hennepin County District Court with second-degree intentional murder and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon. Investigators had been looking for him for more than two weeks before they tracked him down in Georgia. His mother, Erica McMillan, was also arrested, accused of driving her son out of state on the day of the shooting. Two other people in the house where Longstreet was found were also taken into custody, and more arrests are expected, according to Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges.

Hodges said in a press conference following the shooting that anyone who aids or abets the suspects in any way, including “if you so much as buy them a Happy Meal or give them a ride,” would be arrested.

Longstreet and 18-year-old TaeShawn Adams Wright are accused of gunning down Hudson following a verbal altercation and struggle inside a Nordstrom store two days before Christmas. Adams-Wright is in custody on a $1.5 million bond. Two other teens have been charged with second-degree felony riot.

Several gun-related incidents have occurred at the Mall of America in the past year. In August, shots were fired outside the Nike store, and a few weeks later, there was an alleged armed robbery by a man with a long gun. Police tackled him, and no one was hurt. On New Year’s Eve 2021, two people were shot on the mall’s third level.

Metal detectors were installed at an entrance after the shots fired in August. Mall officials said they have beefed up security in both visible and invisible ways.

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