The Cape Girardeau County Prosecutor’s office filed charges on Wednesday against Deontae L. Perry in connection to the weekend shooting of two concert-goers at the Arena Building. Petty is charged with two counts of first degree assault and one count of armed criminal action.
Police are still searching for Petty, and prosecutors believe he lives in the Chicago area.
At the concert on Saturday, private security guards forced a suspect to leave the venue before the shooting occurred. Police say he then went to his car, got a gun, and returned. According to prosecutors’ probable cause statement, Petty allegedly tried to get inside the Arena building through the south door, where he fired indiscriminately into the crowd.
Police spokesperson Darin Hickey says the gunman started firing at random.
“He was just firing into the crowd and into the doorway area, not that he was firing at anybody in particular, Hickey said.
Petty allegedly led police on a car chase that ended in a crash at the corner of Themis and Pacific, where he then escaped on foot.
The victims were identified as Brandon Johnson and Malik Armstrong. Both have been released from the hospital. Hickey said it’s fortunate no one was killed.
“There would have been a possibility of several people injured, several people killed because of the way he was firing the gun indiscriminately into the building,” Hickey said. “If he’s willing to take those steps, we do consider him armed and dangerous.”
Bond is set at $150,000 dollars.