Men wanted in Mall of America shooting arrested in Chicago
(FOX 9) - Bloomington police said the two men wanted in the shooting at the Mall of America were arrested Thursday in Illinois after they were spotted getting haircuts.
The alleged shooter, 21-year-old Shamar Lark, and the man police said directed Lark to fire the shots, 23-year-old Rashad May, had been on the run for the last week.
During a news conference Thursday, Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges said Lark and May were picked up during a traffic stop in Chicago. They had been seen coming out of a barbershop and then got into a car. The car, driven by a woman, was stopped by the Chicago FBI Fugitive Task Force, and they were taken into custody without incident.
"A week ago, we said that you can't shoot at the mall and expect to get away with it. You can't commit these acts and think you're going to enjoy the freedoms of a free society and (now) you're getting haircuts. Haircuts," Hodges said.
Officers said on Aug. 4, Lark fired multiple shots inside the mall after a fight at the Nike store. Police said it appears May "prompted" Lark, who then fired multiple shots. Thankfully, no one was struck by the gunfire, but the act sparked a panic that had people running and looking for safety while officers swept the mall.
In the days after the shooting, three other people were arrested on charges of aiding Lark and May: 21-year-old Denesh Raghubir of Minneapolis, 23--year-old Delyanie Kwen-Shawn Arnold of Burnsville, and 23-year-old Selena Raghubir of Bloomington.
Mall of America shooting: Shooter still on the run as 3 others charged
Three people, including Best Western employees, were charged Monday in connection to the shooting at Mall of America on Thursday, Aug. 4. The shooter remains at large and has not been formally charged. They're accused of helping the shooter and another man evade arrest.
Lark and May were to be booked into the Cook County Jail in Illinois, and then they will have an extradition hearing so they can be brought back to Minnesota. As for why they were in Chicago, Hodges said police believe they had roots there.
Authorities found a weapon in the vehicle, but don't know if it was the gun used at the mall. Hodges also did not say whether the woman driving the car was arrested, but he issued a warning to anyone else involved:
"Anybody that helped them and we’re able to find that out, we're going to lock them up, too," Hodges said.
Shooting and charges
On August 4, police working at Mall of America responded to multiple gunshots at the Nike store, where they found three shell casings on the floor inside the entrance. Officers checked surveillance video, which showed a fight breaking out involving six people near the checkout of the store, causing customers to run away.
Then two people involved in the altercation left the store briefly before the suspect returned and fired a handgun several times at the males involved in the fight. The suspected shooter, identified Monday as 21-year-old Shamar Lark, and another man, identified as 23-year-old Rashad May, then ran out the north doors of the mall, into the IKEA parking lot, charges said.
It was later learned the two men may have been picked up by a Best Western hotel shuttle at IKEA and were taken to the hotel, just south of Mall of America.
Police believe May called Arnold a few minutes after the shooting, and he received five calls from Arnold between 4:20-4:23 p.m., the complaint said. Arnold then contacted his girlfriend, Selena Raghubir, who is an assistant manager at the Best Western, as well as Selena Raghubir's cousin, Denesh Raghubir, who picked up Lark and May at IKEA in the Best Western shuttle.
Denesh Raghubir told police he knew the two men were friends of Selena Raghubir, and when he dropped them off at Best Western, Selena Raghubir immediately left the front desk and he didn't see her for about 45 minutes, charges said. He said Selena Raghubir later called him and asked him what time police left.
On Aug. 5, officers searched Arnold and Selena Raghubir's home and vehicle, where they found the shirts the men were wearing at the time of the shooting, charges said.
Shamar Lark (left) and Rashad May (right) are wanted after Thursday's shooting at the Mall of America. (Supplied)
Subsequent search
During a Monday afternoon news conference, Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges released photos showing Lark and May. Hodges says May "prompted" Lark to shoot up the store – which Lark followed through on.
Police issued a nationwide warrant for Lark and May and had information that the duo could be in the Chicago area.
"You cannot, in a free society, continue to enjoy all the freedoms that we have and when you show a complete lack of respect for humanity by firing in a crowded mall store," said Chief Hodges. "We cannot tolerate that as a society."