Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters
Police have arrested a suspect in the Thanksgiving night shooting in an Alabama mall that left one innocent bystander dead after cops mistook him for the shooter, sparking nationwide outrage. U.S. Marshals arrested the alleged shooter, identified by authorities as Erron Brown, at a relative’s home in South Fulton, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The arrest concludes nearly a week of turmoil for Alabama police, who repeatedly changed their story on the death of army veteran Emantic “EJ” Bradford Jr. After a police officer shot Bradford Jr. at the mall, believing him to be the gunman who had fired at an 18-year-old boy, the cop was originally heralded as a hero. But officials backed away from that story as it became clear that Bradford was simply an innocent bystander who pulled out his own gun while fleeing from the violence. Nevertheless, the department justified Bradford’s death by blaming him for having a gun, writing in a Monday press release that Bradford’s firearm “instantly heightened the sense of threat to approaching police officers.”