Brooklyn Center Walmart Shooting: Third Man Sentenced

A Hennepin County District Court judge sentenced a Saint Paul man to probation and one year in the county work house for his involvement in a shooting at Walmart, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Wednesday.

Treshaun Brian Mason, 24, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault for shooting at a rival gang member outside of the Walmart store in Brooklyn Center on Sept. 13, 2016. If he violates any of the conditions of his probation, he could be sent to prison for 36 months, which is what the prosecutor requested.

According to the criminal complaint, police were dispatched to the Walmart on Shingle Creek Crossing on the report of a shooting. Witnesses at the scene said they saw several men shooting at each other just outside the doors of the store. Officers saw Jamie Maurice Thompson lying on a bench with a gunshot wound to his leg.

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Investigators reviewed surveillance video and saw two rival gangs leaving the store at the same time and then engaging in a fist fight. Thompson and a third man, Richard Larve Taylor, pointed their guns at each other. Taylor shot Thompson who collapsed on the ground. Mason picked up Thompson’s gun and shot at Taylor.

All three men were subsequently arrested and charged. Earlier this year, Thompson pleaded guilty to two separate cases of second-degree assault and received consecutive sentences of 72 month in prison. Taylor pleaded guilty to felon in possession of a gun and was sentenced to 60 months, according to a news release.

In court Monday afternoon, Judge Kathryn Quaintance told Mason that she was giving him “a break” because he graduated from high school, had attended college and did not appear to have any addiction issues.

“Make the most of it,” she said. “After this, if you don’t, you’ll go to prison. It’s your life, you decide what happens next.

Photo credit: AP Photo/Eric Gay