Store owner who shot 9-year-old girl instead of alleged shoplifters at Victorville mall to be arraigned
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY - Charges against a man who mistakenly shot a 9-year-old girl at a Victorville mall last week have been filed, the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office announced Monday.
Marquel Michael James Cockrell of Adelanto City faces the following charges for his involvement in the April 12 shooting: assault with a firearm, use of a firearm, personal infliction of great bodily injury, discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, and carrying an unregistered loaded handgun.
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Cockrell will be arraigned in Rancho Cucamonga Monday.
Investigators revealed that Cockrell, the co-owner of Sole Addicts, was chasing multiple alleged shoplifters out of the store when he fired multiple shots at them. He missed the intended targets, and instead, struck 9-year-old Ava Rose and fled the scene.
He was arrested in Primm, Nevada and was extradited back to California.
Ava Rose is on the road to recovery.
The family has set up a GoFundMe. The family, which includes mom, dad and six children, were not prepared for the kinds of bills they are expecting, saying they never could have imagined that an afternoon trip to get Easter bunny photos at the local mall would turn into a shootout.
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