A Minneapolis 18-year-old pleaded guilty to shooting a man outside a Brooklyn Center Foot Locker store in March, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Wednesday.
Minneapolis man pleads guilty to shooting over Air Jordans outside Brooklyn Center Foot Locker
September 29, 2016 at 3:00AM
Gary Lamar Townsend, who was 17 at the time of the shooting but was certified as an adult, pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree murder and was sentenced to nearly 11 years in prison.
Police were called to the Kids Foot Locker store on Shingle Creek Parkway March 5 on a report of people with weapons, the charges said. When police arrived, they found people waiting patiently in a long line for the store to open because a new Michael Jordan shoe was going on sale. However, there was no sign of any guns and the police returned to the parking lot and watched.
A few minutes later, officers heard about a dozen gunshots in front of the store. A man helped Townsend, who had been shot in the leg, move away. Police put Townsend in the back of a squad car until an ambulance arrived, charges said.
Police also found another victim lying on the ground in front of the store. According to information they received, he had been shot twice in the liver, and once in the kidney and arm. Next to him was man with a gun, which he dropped when ordered by police.
The man, the victim and Townsend had been fighting over shoes, the charges said. Other witnesses told police an argument had started about people cutting in line. Townsend pulled out a gun and shot the victim, at which point a man pulled out his gun and shot Townsend. The man had a permit to carry.
The pilot was the only person inside the plane, and was not injured in the emergency landing, according to the State Patrol.
