6 arrested after funeral for Mall of America shooting victim
ST. PAUL, Minn. >> Police have arrested six men following the funeral for a 19-year-old man who was shot at the Mall of America last month.
Johntae Hudson’s funeral was held Friday, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. Officers at the service noticed a man with a handgun and another man wanted for a nonfatal shooting Dec. 14 were in attendance.
The two men left the funeral in an SUV with five other men. According to police, the vehicle pulled into a gas station, where officers tried to stop it. One of the men jumped out of the SUV and tried to run away before officers captured him.
The SUV took off with the two men from the funeral still inside. Police gave chase but lost sight of the vehicle. They later found it abandoned. Four 19-year-old men and one 18-year-old man were found in the nearby area and arrested.
The 18-year-old was the man with the handgun at the funeral. Officers searched the area and found a bag containing a 9 mm handgun and clothes the man was wearing at the funeral, St. Paul Police Sgt. Mike Ernster said.
The Dec. 14 shooting suspect who was at the funeral wasn’t found and is still wanted, Ernster said.
Don't miss out on what's happening!
Stay in touch with top news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It's FREE!
Four other teenagers have been charged in Hudson’s death. He was shot on Dec. 23 in the Mall of America’s Nordstrom store.