Johntae Hudson, 19, of St. Paul was shot and killed inside the Nordstrom store at the Mall of America on December 23, 2022, at about 7:49 p.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Surveillance footage reportedly shows Hudson being corralled by suspects and then shot multiple times at point-blank range.

Bloomington police announced arrests in the days after the shooting. Five people, including three juveniles, were arrested; a sixth suspect was later captured in Georgia and extradited back to Minnesota. Among those charged were TaeShawn Adams-Wright and Lavon Longstreet, both 19 at arrest; Adams-Wright pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a 30-year sentence with an expected 19½ years to be served after credit for time in custody. Longstreet, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, was charged with aiding and abetting intentional second-degree murder, fled the state with his mother but was later apprehended in Georgia, and prosecutors successfully petitioned to try him as an adult. Two other juveniles faced second-degree riot charges, and prosecutors sought Extended Jurisdiction Juvenile status for at least some of the juvenile defendants while at least one petition was denied.

Hudson’s parents, Lynn and Johnny Hudson, said he was a dedicated volunteer and an aspiring entrepreneur who had received college scholarship offers; they have advocated for justice and for reforms aimed at preventing similar violence. Does anyone have information about Johntae’s activities that evening or about witnesses who saw what happened inside Nordstrom?