HOOVER, Ala. (AP) – A man has been arrested on a murder charge in connection with a recent shooting at an Alabama shopping mall that left an 8-year-old boy dead and three other people injured, authorities said Sunday.
Hoover police announced the arrest of Montez Coleman, 22, in connection with the shooting Friday afternoon the Riverchase Galleria Mall. The boy was identified by police as Royta Giles Jr., a rising third grader at a local elementary school.
Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said that Coleman, who had been sought on a capital murder warrant, also is charged with three counts of second-degree assault in the wounding of a man, woman and girl – all innocent bystanders. They were each treated for gunshot wounds and subsequently released from medical care.
“Our community is heartbroken,” Derzis said at a news conference, AL.com reported. “The officers who were on the scene will forever bear the image of an innocent child who died in their arms.”
Hoover is a suburban community about 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Birmingham, Alabama’s biggest city.