Man who fired gun in Mall of America sentenced to 3 years in jail
Shamar Lark sits in a courtroom during his sentencing hearing on July 26, 2023.
A Burnsville man who pleaded guilty to firing a gun inside Mall of America last year will spend time behind bars for his actions.
Wednesday morning, 22-year-old Shamar Alon Lark was sentenced to three years (36 months) in jail on a second-degree assault conviction, which he pleaded to last month. As part of his plea, two other charges against him — discharging a dangerous weapon and carrying a gun in public — were dismissed.
His conviction will make it illegal for him to have a gun or ammunition for the rest of his life.
Lark and several others got into a fight near the checkout area in a Nike store in the mall on Aug. 4, 2022. Court documents state that he was then caught on surveillance video firing a gun before running away. Nobody was hurt.
Lark and one of the others involved in the fight were arrested in Chicago about a week after the incident. That man, Rashad May, was sentenced last month. Three others were also charged with helping Lark avoid arrest after the incident. One was sentenced last month, one died in March after a drug overdose and the other is set to be sentenced next month.