From The Tribune staff reports
MONTGOMERY — Attorney General Steve Marshall announced the indictment of a Birmingham man charged with assault for the 2018 Thanksgiving shooting at the Galleria Mall in Hoover.
Erron Martez Dequan Brown, 23, is charged with two counts of first-degree assault.
Brown was charged following the Galleria mall shooting that injured two people. Investigators believe a gun fired by Brown struck Brian Wilson and a 12-year-old girl. The defense said Brown was acting in self-defense.
Two Hoover Police Officers already inside the mall responded when they heard shots fired. As the officers were running towards the gunfire, they spotted Emantic “EJ” Bradford Jr. with a gun. One of the officers opened fire and shot and killed Bradford. For weeks after the shooting, protesters gathered at several locations in Hoover, including the Galleria and Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato’s home.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said the Hoover officer who shot Bradford was justified in the shooting. Marshall said Bradford chambered a bullet before he was shot.
After the shooting, officials said Brown fled to Georgia because he said someone shot into his home. He was later arrested and brought back to Alabama to face charges.
Attorney General Marshall’s Criminal Trials Division presented evidence to a Jefferson County grand jury, resulting in Brown’s indictment on February 23, 2021. Brown remains under house arrest with an ankle monitor.
Because Brown is accused of using a firearm in the commission of his alleged crime, he faces a penalty if convicted of 10 to 20 years imprisonment for each count of first-degree assault, which is a class B felony.
