Minnesota police arrest suspect in shooting that killed 2, including student set to graduate hours after he died

Police have taken into custody the Minnesota man who allegedly got into a gunfight and is now accused of murdering a college graduate bystander who was hours away from accepting his diploma.

On May 22 just before 2 a.m., Jawan Contrail Carroll, 24, was outside a nightclub in downtown Minneapolis when a man identified in a criminal complaint as C.R.J. walked up to the alleged gang member and got into a verbal argument.

Security video shows Carroll allegedly punched C.R.J. and then Carroll drew a gun and began squeezing off shots, which flew into the crowd of bystanders, the complaint obtained by KARE states.

Prosecutors said that after trying to escape into the crowd, C.R.J. also pulled out a weapon and began returning fire until he was struck by a bullet and died.

Carroll, an alleged member of the Tre Tres street gang, fled the scene, police said.

Seven people were injured during the shooting, which also claimed the life of Charlie Johnson, a 21-year-old University of St. Thomas mechanical engineering student who was graduating the next day.

According to the criminal complaint, detectives learned Carroll was living in a Comfort Inn in a nearby city. They searched the shooting suspect’s hotel room and allegedly found purple shoes matching those the suspect had on the night of the shooting.

Detectives surveilling the hotel later followed a vehicle Carroll was riding in, pulled it over and arrested him.

Carroll faces charges of two counts of second-degree murder and seven counts of attempted second-degree murder, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced.

“The pain is too raw to deal with, but I want the world to know what it lost yesterday. He was the best of all of us and left a beautiful impact on every single life he touched. He is my hero,” the college victim’s father, Greg Johnson, wrote on Facebook. “Please, say his name with me and let’s work together with peace and love to end this culture of gun violence and crime.”