Teen arrested in Louisiana shooting got ride from scene from grandmother | Louisiana
A 17-year-old accused of murder in Thursday’s mass shooting at a Louisiana mall that killed a high school senior and injured five others was whisked away from the scene by his grandmother and arrested after investigators used surveillance video and license plate readers to track down the car, authorities allege.
There is no indication that Markel Lee knew what his grandmother was suspected of doing before her arrest; This apparently occurred after she told police that her grandson was on surveillance video showing someone who appeared to be pointing a gun at the food court of the mall where the shooting occurred.
A sworn police statement obtained by the Guardian describes the circumstances of Lee’s arrest in connection with the deadly shooting at the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge; This incident quickly attracted national media attention.
Martha Odom, a 17-year-old high school senior, was shot in the chest and killed Thursday afternoon following gunfire at the Mall of Louisiana, authorities said. Five more people were injured, including two of Martha’s senior classmates at Ascension Episcopal school who were at the mall for an unofficial “jump” day.
Baton Rouge police later obtained surveillance video showing two groups of teenagers approaching each other in the food court. Police wrote in their affidavit that the video showed bystanders running away “as if they were responding to shots fired.”
One man in particular appeared to be running towards the men’s restroom and extending his arm towards the dining area. That person appeared in security video to point a gun in the middle of the dining area before getting into a white, four-door Honda Accord with a damaged front bumper.
Police said they used cameras that read license plates to determine that the car was driven toward the Mall of Louisiana more than an hour before the mass shooting was reported around 1:25 p.m. They later found the car at the registered address of Lee’s grandmother, the owner of the vehicle.
He told detectives that he took Lee to the mall that afternoon and picked him up about six minutes after the shooting.
A surveillance image of a “subject” was shown [who] At the time of the shooting, the grandmother “confirmed that it was her grandson, Markel Lee,” who “appeared to be pointing a gun at the dining area,” police wrote in the affidavit.
Officers obtained a warrant for Lee’s arrest on one count of first-degree murder, five counts of attempted first-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon or dangerous instrument. Police said he surrendered to their custody on Friday.
Jail records on Saturday showed he was being held without bail. A recently enacted Louisiana law allows 17-year-olds to be treated as adults in the state’s criminal justice system. If convicted, he faces life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Baton Rouge police Chief TJ Morse said the mall shooting was prompted by “fights on social media and maybe gang-related things,” but said the incident remains under investigation.
On Friday, police also asked for the public’s help in finding a second suspect who was not immediately identified but was seen at the scene. a surveillance image officers dispersed it.
Meanwhile, Gov. Jeff Landry said he has asked local, state and federal law enforcement to “prepare for a targeted search warrant sweep” for anyone connected to the mall shooting. Landry, a Republican, said the effort would focus on “the neighborhoods where these individuals originate,” but did not specify any specific part of Baton Rouge.
“We will not allow our streets, schools and public spaces to become your battlefield,” Landry continued. “To those who bring this violence into our public spaces and into the lives of our ordinary citizens, I want you to know that you are now the crime problem and we are focused on you.”
The violence at the Baton Rouge mall came five days after eight children were killed in Shreveport, Louisiana, in another mass shooting. Police described the shooting as a “domestic violence incident” committed by the father of seven children. Two adults were also injured and the gunman died after carjacking a person, according to authorities, although it is unclear whether he committed suicide or was fatally shot by police.
There have been nearly 125 mass shootings in the United States in 2026 through Saturday. Gun Violence Archive. The archive, an unbiased reference source, defines mass shootings as situations in which four or more victims are injured or shot.
Gun violence is the leading cause of death for teens and young children in the United States, according to research. This fact, combined with the high rate of mass shootings seen annually in the United States, has led many to call for the federal government to implement more comprehensive gun control.
But for years, Congress did not heed these pleas.
Associated Press contributed
