Man sentenced to three years for firing gun inside Nike store at Mall of America

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The Minneapolis man who fired three gunshots inside the Mall of America's Nike store last summer was sentenced to three years Wednesday, a month after his friend received no jail time for encouraging him to shoot and helping him flee.

Shamar Alon Ramon Lark, 22, was unlawfully in possession of a handgun as a convicted repeat gun offender on Aug. 4 when gunshots rang out inside the crowded mall. No one was struck. He pleaded guilty in Hennepin County District Court to second-degree assault in exchange for dropping two other felony gun charges and asked the judge to depart downward from sentencing guidelines.

"To the families that were there that day, I apologize to you guys," Lark said. "This is not the type of person that I am."

Lark's mother and loved ones filled half the courtroom gallery, which defense attorney Bruce Rivers said demonstrated the support system needed for Lark to succeed. District Judge Kerry Meyer said the crowd of mostly women wasn't lost on her.

"I know you're going to be disappointed in this decision. ... I can hear your family is disappointed," she said. "You will still be very young when you're released, and your children. You will be able to make the decisions that you're telling me you're going to make in the future and show us the type of person you're going to be."

Lark, who is the father of two, turned to his family at one point and thanked them, saying he's sorry for putting them in this situation.

"Mom," he said with a long pause, "I love you the most."

Family members in the gallery erupted into tears. Later they tried to contain their emotion as Lark was handcuffed and arrested.

His mother declined to comment. "I respect the judge but I disagree with the decision," Rivers said.

Rashad Jamal May, 23, pleaded guilty to aiding an offender and was sentenced last month to 77 days in the Hennepin County workhouse with a one-year prison sentence suspended for a year.

Prosecutor Natasha Yenina said surveillance video shows May was "sucker punched" while standing in line to buy shoes. A fistfight broke out and the defendants had the opportunity to retreat, call 911 or security. Instead, "Mr. May started encouraging him to shoot. To blow that person away. ... That encouragement allowed him to go back in the store."

Yenina said the defendants never saw their attackers with any weapons and Lark escalated the fistfight by pulling out a firearm "that could've injured multiple people." She said they didn't take any responsibility for the shooting until they were arrested in Chicago 10 days later.

Rivers argued that Lark and May were victims of a "vicious attack" sparked by being misidentified as gang members.

"It was a situation where he acted quickly and was imperfect self-defense," he said. "Had they not been attacked this would not have happened."

Lark was carrying a firearm, unlawfully, because of the prevalence of guns in the streets and "young Black men killing young Black men," Rivers said. He emphasized to the judge that the initial attackers were never tracked down or identified.

Lark said people have the "right to go shopping without anything happening." They were at the Mall of America buying shoes for May's birthday when, he said, he saw trouble coming his way and feared for his life.

"To all the families and children that were around ... I know exactly what you were going through because I was going through it too. Put yourself in my shoes."

Meyer said it's true that everyone should have the right to go shopping without facing such violence. She acknowledged that while it was self-defense for Lark to punch back after May was struck, pulling out the gun and firing it was not.

"The issue is the guns, the feeling that you need to carry them for your safety," she said.

This is Lark's first felony, but the judge did not find probation appropriate in this case because Lark was on probation at the time of the shooting. He was banned from possessing firearms following an unlawful gun possession conviction four months earlier. He also pleaded guilty in October 2021 to gross misdemeanor possession without a permit.

"Probation is not enough to prevent this from happening," she said.

Lark will serve about two years in custody and the remainder on supervised release. He is banned for life from possessing firearms.

Another Mall of America gunman who robbed two stores just weeks after Lark opened fire pleaded guilty this week in Hennepin County District Court.

Cartier Troy Alexander, 29, of Woodbury will be sentenced on three counts of aggravated first-degree robbery in late September. The terms of his plea will be decided by the judge, and his sentence, according to the plea agreement, could range from three to 20 years.