18-year-old to Stand Trial for Fatal Mall of America Shooting
A teenager has been ordered to stand trial as an adult for his alleged role in a fatal shooting inside the Mall of America in December last year.
Lavon Sema-J Longstreet, now 18, faces 2nd-degree murder and 2nd-degree assault charges after the fatal shooting Dec. 23. He was 17 years old at the time.
A SWAT operation at an apartment building around 8:40 a.m. on the 200 block of Shelard Pkwy. in Saint Louis Park the day after the shooting resulted in the arrests of three 17-year-old males and two 18-year-old males.
Authorities charged Taeshawn Adams Wright, 18, shortly after the incident with 2nd-degree murder and 2nd-degree assault. Witness statements and video surveillance showed a group of males engaging in a “verbal confrontation” seconds before the shooting. After the shooting, several of the group were seen running out of the store, police said.
The Mall went into lockdown for about an hour as police searched for the suspects Friday night. Dozens of officers from surrounding agencies also responded to assist with clearing the Mall and with a perimeter outside. Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges at the time described the altercation inside Nordstrom as stemming from “some type of long-running feud.”
Both Wright and Longstreet are in jail with bail set at $1.5 million and $1 million respectively.
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