Marqel Cockrell Wiki
Marqel Cockrell Biography
Who is Marqel Cockrell ?
A 9-year-old girl was accidentally shot in the arm while waiting to see the Easter Bunny at a Southern California shopping mall after a store owner opened fire on two suspected shoplifters fleeing the business.
Little Ava was struck by a bullet at the Mall of Victor Valley in Victorville on Tuesday night. Her mother, Natalie, who is hearing impaired, told FOX 11 that she thought there had been a plane crash. She had no idea that her young daughter had just been shot.
Shooting
Officers who responded to the shooting around 6:30 p.m. He said the shots were aimed at a pair of robbers, not the 9-year-old girl, according to a statement released by Victorville police.
Marqel Cockrell, 20, co-owner of Sole Addicts shoe store, was chasing the robbers out of his store when he “fired multiple shots at the robbers,” police said in a statement.
“Cockrell’s shots missed the robbers and instead hit the 9-year-old female victim.”
Ava’s grandmother, Robin Saldarelli, told FOX 11 that the third grader was getting ready to take pictures with the Easter Bunny when the gunman opened fire, prompting shoppers to scramble to safety.
Stores in the mall were closed and customers sheltered inside while officers searched for the shooter.
A video surfaced online shortly after the incident that appears to show Cockrell in the mall parking lot getting into a white sedan and driving away, FOX reported.
Arrested and Charged
He was located and arrested in his car a few hours later, around 9 p.m., in Clark County, Nevada, by the Nevada Highway Patrol, Victorville police said.
Cockrell is being held at the Clark County Detention Center on $1 million bail “under an extradition warrant, for attempted murder,” Victorville police said.
An extradition hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
Family
Ava’s family told FOX 11 that she is recovering from her injuries, but is in a lot of pain and doesn’t understand why she can’t go back to school with her friends.
GoFundMe
She has created a GoFundMe to help with Ava’s medical expenses.
“No girl deserves this,” Ava’s mother, Natalie, wrote in the GoFundMe post.
‘No child deserves this: she was at the mall going to take Easter pictures with the bunny, she is such a sweet and caring little girl and loves reading her books, she suffers from two gunshot wounds and has her arm broken. ‘
Marqel Cockrell Quick and Facts
- Marqel Cockrell, 20, co-owner of the shoe store Sole Addicts, was arrested and charged with attempted murder after he opened fire on shoplifters in the mall
- The chaos unfolded Tuesday at the Mall of Victor Valley in Victorville, California
- The store owner’s gunfire missed his intended targets, and struck a child instead
- Ava, 9, was hit by a stray bullet while waiting in line for the mall Easter Bunny
- Her family said she was in pain, but expected to be OK
- Cockrell was located later that evening in Nevada by the Nevada Highway Patrol
- He is being held at the Clark County Detention Center with his bail set at $1M
