Accused gunman in Thanksgiving shooting at Alabama mall arrested in metro Atlanta

SOUTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — The man accused of shooting and injuring two people at a mall in the Birmingham, Ala. area on Thanksgiving has been arrested in metro Atlanta.

On Thursday, U.S. Marshals arrested Erron Brown, 20, at a relative's home in South Fulton County.  Brown was charged with attempted murder in the Nov. 22 shooting at the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, according to a statement from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

Brown was taken to the Fulton County jail for a hearing to be sent back to Alabama.

Hoover police said a fight broke out inside the Riverchase Galleria on Thanksgiving night and resulted in an exchange of gunfire.

Brown was charged in the shooting of Brian Xavier Wilson, 18, of Birmingham, who was wounded. He wasn't charged with shooting a 12-year-old girl who also was injured.

Channel 2's Nicole Carr went to the neighborhood where Brown was hiding.

"I didn't really put two and two together that there was a shooting that they came to apprehend," said a neighbor who asked to remain anonymous.

Federal authorities told Carr, Brown's relative didn't seem to know about the allegations against Brown.

Carr tried to speak to family members but no one would speak.

On Thanksgiving night, an officer responding to the scene shot and killed Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr., 21, who police said was running from the scene with a weapon. Police later determined Bradford was not the shooter.

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The arrest followed days of protests over Bradford's killing in Hoover, where leaders of an asked the state Thursday for permission to release more information about the killing.

With the city's lone black City Council member, Derrick Murphy, acting as a spokesman, officials made the request during an appearance at City Hall that ended with two prayers. The city will look at releasing information on its own if no response comes by noon Monday, Murphy said.

Demonstrators and relatives of Bradford have pushed authorities to release video and other evidence since an officer responding to a report of the shooting, which happened at Alabama's largest shopping mall.

Murphy, who joined other leaders in meeting with Bradford's relatives earlier this week, said the city wanted to help answer questions raised by the family.

"They have our love, they have our prayers," he said.

The city made the request about evidence to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency because state investigators are handling the shooting probe. A statement from the agency about Brown's arrest said it was "highly likely" that releasing evidence would hamper the continuing probe, but it didn't directly address the city's request.

The statement from the Alabama police agency did not say whether there was any relationship between Bradford and Brown, and an attorney representing the Bradford family did not return a message about whether the two men knew each other.

A minister who described himself as the Bradford family's pastor, Mike McClure Jr., said releasing video of the shooting would help calm growing tensions that have included days of protests and racist social media posts.

"When there is no information it only leads to imagination," said McClure, one of two pastors who closed the councilman's statement with prayer.

McClure said Bradford attended his church, and McClure will officiate at funeral services on Saturday which will include a eulogy by the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Bradford was shot to death on a mall concourse decorated for Christmas. An officer, who has yet to be publicly identified, shot and killed Bradford upon seeing the young man with a gun moments after shots were fired, police said.

Bradford's family has said he had a permit to carry a weapon legally, and their attorney has said witnesses reported that Bradford was trying to help after the shooting.

Cox Media Group