Indianapolis police announced on Wednesday that they had re-arrested the 18-year-old man who was allegedly involved with the Dec. 23 shooting at Castleton Square Mall.

Police re-arrested the 18-year-old Tuesday after discovering that an altercation in a Walmart chip aisle a few months prior led to the shooting inside of the mall, according to court documents.

Police preliminarily charged the man with intimidation. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department also said officers arrested a 17-year-old for his alleged role in the shooting and preliminarily charged them with dangerous possession of a firearm.

IndyStar is not naming the two people because they have not been formally charged with the alleged crimes.

The interview that led to the teen’s arrest

Chaos broke out at Castleton Square after gunfire could be heard inside the mall’s hall late Dec. 23, prompting people to run outside.

After evacuating and closing the mall early, police learned that a person may have been hurt in the shooting.

Security footage captured an 18-year-old man chasing someone with his right hand on a handgun tucked in his pocket. He left the mall’s camera view, and when he returned in the footage a short time later, police said he was seen with a noticeable limp and looked down at his left leg.

At the time, it was unclear what had specifically led up to the shooting, but a new preliminary arrest affidavit has answered several of those questions.

On Jan. 1, police interviewed the man seen on mall security footage running away from the teens before the shooting on Dec. 23, according to court documents.

The man explained that while he was shopping with a friend and his sibling, he noticed the teens staring at him, which made him feel “uncomfortable.”

While the man was walking toward a clothing store, the teens attempted to get his attention and confronted him outside of the store, according to court documents.

The man told police that he recognized the 18-year-old from a confrontation that happened at a Walmart in Avon earlier in the year, after the two had bumped hands in the chip aisle.

The 18-year-old told the man that he had “been waiting to catch up with you,” according to a record of the interview.

The man believed that the 18-year-old was one of his dead brother’s former “enemies” and assumed that’s why he was threatening the man. The man’s brother was an artist but after his death, the man had adopted his brother’s artist moniker and began publishing music using it, he told police.

When police asked the 18-year-old what led to the shooting, he explained that the man was threatening to fight him because of an altercation at Walmart. When asked if he had filed a police report about the matter, he told police that he had not, according to court documents.

Before the situation escalated, the man told police he asked the 18-year-old, “Y’all tryin to do this here in the mall? They got cameras everywhere.”

That’s when the 18-year-old allegedly threatened the man with his gun, prompting the man to run away.

Security camera footage captured the teens chasing after the man. The 18-year-old could be seen with a handgun with an extended magazine protruding from his pocket before the teens and the man ran out of the camera’s view, according to court documents.

At some point during the chase, the man ran into something and fell to the ground. When he turned around he saw the 18-year-old pointing a gun at him. Believing that he was about to be shot, the man pulled out his 9mm handgun and fired at the 18-year-old three times, according to court documents.

The man escaped into a store, ultimately exiting the mall through a storage room.

The 18-year-old could then be seen on security footage leaving with a noticeable limp to his left leg, according to court documents.

Police later interviewed the 18-year-old about the shooting while he was receiving care for the gunshot wound at an area hospital.

The 18-year-old’s re-arrest

The 18-year-old was initially arrested and charged by police immediately after the shooting, but the teen was released from police custody on Dec. 27, 2024, after the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office decided not to file criminal charges against him.

At the time, the prosecutor’s office noted that it did not file charges against the teen, instead opting to allow police to finish their investigation and determine what led to the shooting.

After interviewing the man, police investigated the matter further and determined that the 17-year-old was an acquaintance of the 18-year-old based on photos they found of the teens together on social media.

On Jan. 7, police obtained a search warrant of the 18-year-old’s home, and inside his room found pieces of clothing and accessories that the two had been wearing on the day of the shooting. Police then arrested the two teens.

Contact IndyStar reporter Noe Padilla at npadilla@indystar.com or follow him on X @1NoePadilla.