DENVER, Colorado, Dec. 29, 2019 (UPI) — An 18-year-old man has been arrested in the fatal shooting of a teenager at a mall in suburban Denver.
Kamyl Xavier Garrette, 18, faces charges of first degree murder in the shooting Friday night at the Town Center of Aurora, the city’s police department announced Saturday night.
Police said his photo was not being released because more interviews need to be conducted.
Around 4 p.m., the shooting occurred inside the first level of the J.C. Penney, police said.
The victim was identified as Nathan Poindexter, 17, by the Crowley Foundation, an educational and leadership organization for youth.
“The fact that he’s not here doesn’t seem real,” said Kenneth Crowley Sr., a mentor to Poindexter and the founder of the Crowley Foundation, told KUSA-TV. “He had an awesome future. He could’ve been anything that he wanted to be, done anything he wanted to do, gone anywhere he wanted to go.”
Poindexter was at the mall with his family.
The victim was transported to a local hospital where he later died, Aurora Officer Anthony Camacho said.
Nathan’s uncle, Damon Jones, told KGMH-TV an argument escalated to a fight, and ultimately a shooting.
“This tragedy happened in front of his baby brother,” Jones said.
No one else was injured during the shooting. People sheltered in place for about 20-30 minutes.
Camacho said they believe this was an isolated incident and that there was not an ongoing danger to the public.
In 2012, a shooting occurred in a movie theater at the mall in which 12 people died and 70 others were injured. James Eagan Holmes, who was sentenced to life in prison, set off tear gas grenades and shot into the audience with multiple firearms.
