Docs of murders suspect: Video shows 3 men with guns inside store before 2 killed
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Surveillance video and court documents show a scene of multiple guns inside an east side gas station and convenience store prior to an April 23 shootout that killed two men.
Jaquareous Mitchell, 26, and Jimmy Thomas Jr., 29, died in the shooting inside the Shell gas station and Emerson Food Mart at the intersection of 34th Street and North Emerson Avenue, Indianapolis police have said. Police have said the shooting happened about 5:20 p.m. April 23. Surveillance video with time stamps in court documents say the shooting began at 4:12 p.m. April 23.
Martice McGee, 20, was formally charged Monday in Marion Superior Court 21 with two counts of murder.
Surveillance video showed Mitchell and Thomas exchanged two handguns and a rifle in the store before McGee pulled out a pink and silver handgun and shot Thomas, who fell to the ground.
Next, McGee fired at Mitchell, who returned fire. After both men ran through the store, McGee again fired toward Mitchell and then fled the store. Mitchell was taken in critical condition to IU Health Methodist Hospital, where he later died.
Inside the store after the shooting, crime lab investigators found a S&W FNX-40 pistol as well as five empty .40 caliber cartridge cases and three empty 9mm cartridge cases.
Later, a search warrant was granted for Mitchell’s black 2013 Chrysler 300, which authorities had towed from the store parking lot. Investigators found a Glock 22 .40 caliber handgun and an Army-SOG-15.5 5.6mm/.223 caliber rifle in the car.
Police later learned the rifle had been reported stolen on April 4 in Indianapolis.
Court documents say McGee was identified from fingerprints on a 2-little Faygo soda bottle he’d left on a counter in the store. Indianapolis police later learned McGee had been arrested in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in January for a weapons violation. Investigators got McGee’s Michigan jail booking photo, helping them put a face to the fingerprint.
Authorities with Indianapolis police and the U.S. Marshal’s Service helped track down McGee. Eventually, Indianapolis investigators found a cellphone number for McGee, called it, and he answered. A search warrant was later issued for a trace of the phone number, which helped police locate McGee.
McGee, who waived his Miranda rights, talked with an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department detective. McGee said he’d stopped at the store and, as he went to the register to pay for two sodas, “A person he only knew from a previous incident from earlier this year at the Hawthorn Apartments began talking aggressively to him,” court documents say.
McGee didn’t recall the person’s name, he told the detective.
In the court documents, the detective shared more of what the murders suspect said about the encounter. “They begin arguing and the male is trying to fight McGee. Words continue to be exchanged between McGee and the male. McGee could see two guns in the male’s pockets and the male continued to try to fight McGee. The male then went outside and came back inside with his brother. The brother went to the fountain drink area of the store and the male continued trying to fight McGee. McGee told the male ‘If you touch me or approach me, I will shoot you.’ The male told McGee ‘You’re bluffing if you had a gun, you would have shot me when I fight came in.’ The male continued towards McGee.”
The detective asked McGee what happened next and, in the court documents, said, “McGee told me ‘I shot him, and his brother started shooting at me, so I shot him too and then ran out of the store.”
Court documents do not list a home address for McGee. A magistrate ruled Monday that McGee was to be held in jail on no bond. No attorney was listed in court documents for McGee.
