Teen pleads guilty in Foot Locker shooting

A Minneapolis teenager pleaded guilty on Wednesday to shooting a man outside of a Foot Locker in Brooklyn Center back in March.

According to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, Gary Lamar Townsend, 18, was sentenced to 130 months in prison.

On the morning of March 5, police were called to the Kids Foot Locker store on Shingle Creek Parkway on a report of people with weapons, a release said. When police arrived, they found people waiting in line for the store to open because a new Michael Jordan shoe was going on sale. When there was no sign of any guns, police returned to the parking lot and watched.

Just before 10 a.m., the officers heard about a dozen gunshots in front of the store. They saw Daniel Hart, 18, helping an injured Townsend, who had been shot in the leg. Police then put Townsend in the back of a squad car until an ambulance arrived. Hart left the scene and was later charged with aiding and abetting attempted second-degree murder and second-degree assault.

During the shooting, police also found a victim lying on the ground in front of the store. According to information they received, he had been shot four times - twice in the liver, once in the kidney and once in the arm. Next to him was another witness, with a gun in his hand. The witness dropped the gun when ordered by police. The witness said the victim and Townsend had been fighting over shoes. Other witnesses told police an argument had started about people cutting in line. Townsend pulled out a gun and shot the victim, at which point the witness pulled out his own gun and shot Townsend. The witness has a Minnesota permit to carry.

Hart’s next court appearance is pending.