Police Capture Second Suspect in Rochester Apartment Complex Shooting

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- Rochester Police have captured the second person suspected of being involved in a recent shooting at a Rochester apartment complex. 

Read More: Police Looking for Second Suspect in Rochester Apartment Shooting 

The shooting occurred on the afternoon of May 4 at an apartment complex in the 6500 block of Lodgeview Ct. Northwest, which is just east of Hwy. 52. 

Preliminary information released by police indicated one of the buildings was struck by gunfire but no one was hurt. A 17-year-old boy detained at the scene was later arrested. 

Rochester Police Department Communications Coordinator Amanda Grayson previously said officers were looking for a second suspect and that evidence suggested the parties involved in the shooting were communicating with each other before the gunshots were fired. 

Footage Leads to Break in Rochester Apartment Shooting Case

A criminal complaint, filed in Olmsted County Court last week, says officers who responded to the scene spoke with a juvenile male who reported a 26-year-old man had robbed him of his cellphone on May 3. 

He said the two were meeting on May 4 to exchange the phone for a bag containing $1,000 in cash. The boy told police the man who took the money did not give back the phone. 

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Officers obtained security camera footage of the incident that showed the vehicle arriving. A man is seen exiting and the boy who spoke with police is seen backing up and producing what the complaint described as a “gun-like object.” 

The footage captured drywall dust flying in the air as the boy retreated to the inside of the apartment complex. The vehicle is then seen speeding away from the scene, the charges say. 

Police found three shell casings outside of the apartment building and two of the spent rounds were in the area of where the vehicle was parked, the complaint says.

Investigators were able to obtain the suspect vehicle’s description and license plate and traced it to an apartment complex in the 2300 block of Valley High Dr. Northwest, according to the complaint. 

Police conducted surveillance on the vehicle for several days and learned its registered owner, identified in the complaint as 28-year-old Christopher Lamar Smith of Rochester, was its only driver, the charges say. 

Officers searched the vehicle and found a bag the juvenile was seen handing over to the man before the shooting occurred, the court document says. Smith was booked into the Olmsted County Jail around 1:30 Thursday afternoon. 

Man With Violent History Charged in Shooting at Rochester Apartment Complex

Smith has been charged with drive-by-shooting towards a person, second-degree assault and felon in possession of a firearm. 

Court records indicate Smith was convicted of first-degree assault in Olmsted County in October of 2014. He was released without bail and ordered to surrender his firearms on Monday. 

Smith’s conviction stemmed from his role in a large brawl that resulted in serious injuries in a Rochester neighborhood in June of 2014. The conviction resulted in a more than 6 year prison sentence.

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