A suspect has been arrested for the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old man during last year’s Black Lives Matter protests in Seattle’s temporary Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) zone.

Seattle officers and US Marshals apprehended Marcel Long, 19, in the Seattle suburb of Des Moines on Monday.

Police had identified Long shortly after the killing of Lorenzo ‘Lil Renz’ Anderson on June 20, 2020, and learned Long had fled the state, court documents filed in August said. He had been wanted on a $2million arrest warrant since then. 

Marcel Long, 19

Marcel Long, 19

Lorenzo Anderson, 19

Lorenzo Anderson, 19

Marcel Long, 19 (left), was arrested by the US Marshals on a murder charge for the shooting death of 19-year-old Lorenzo Anderson (right) in Seattle in June 2020

Bodycam footage released by the Seattle Police Department shows several officers enter the CHOP zone to reach Anderson as protestors yell at them to put their guns down

Bodycam footage released by the Seattle Police Department shows several officers enter the CHOP zone to reach Anderson as protestors yell at them to put their guns down

Bodycam footage released by the Seattle Police Department shows several officers enter the CHOP zone to reach Anderson as protestors yell at them to put their guns down

Members of the US Marshal’s Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force recently determined Long was staying at a Des Moines apartment complex, the agency said in a news release. 

Long was seen walking on a local street and was arrested after a brief foot chase. He was booked into the King County Jail on a murder charge, jail records reveal.

Casey McNerthney with the King County Prosecutor’s Office, described Long to KOMO News as a ‘danger to the public.’ 

Evan Oshan, an attorney for Anderson’s estate and his father, released a statement addressing Long’s arrest, reported The Seattle Times.   

‘We are grateful for the hard work of law-enforcement for finally bringing Marcel Long in,’ he said. ‘However the flawed political system which allowed the “CHOP” zone to exist and allow lawlessness to reign on Seattle are at the core of why Lorenzo, Black special needs teenager, bled out and died on June 20, 2020.

‘This was a preventable and predictable death that occurred, we are holding city officials as well as the admin responsible. Including but not limited to, Mayor Jenny Durkan, various members of the Seattle city council, and others.’ 

Anderson and Long had apparently been at odds since 2019, after they were involved in a fight that Anderson lost which was posted on YouTube, charging papers say.

Several people called 911 around 2.20am on June 20 last year to report the shooting. But responding police officers were met by an angry crowd and left after someone yelled that the person shot had already been taken to Harborview Medical Center, the charges say.

Long, pictured in images released by Seattle officials during the search for him, was captured in  Des Moines, Washington, after a brief foot chase

Long, pictured in images released by Seattle officials during the search for him, was captured in  Des Moines, Washington, after a brief foot chase

Long, pictured in images released by Seattle officials during the search for him, was captured in  Des Moines, Washington, after a brief foot chase 

Protesters march through the area known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) in Seattle on June 24, 2020, at the height of the BLM protests

Protesters march through the area known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) in Seattle on June 24, 2020, at the height of the BLM protests

Protesters march through the area known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) in Seattle on June 24, 2020, at the height of the BLM protests

Anderson died at the hospital 33 minutes after the first 911 calls.

An autopsy report revealed that the 19-year-old suffered four gunshot wounds, to his knee, buttocks, hand and shoulder, raising the possibility that he could have been saved had he received medical attention earlier. 

Anderson’s parents have filed separate wrongful death lawsuits against the City of Seattle and its leadership for allowing the CHOP zone to exist, and for failing to aid the teen as he lay bleeding in the street. 

‘Donnitta is grateful to the police for not giving up and she’s pleased about this step toward justice. The shooter should be held accountable and so should the city,’ said Mark Lindquist, a lawyer representing Donnitta Sinclair, Anderson’s mother.  

Horace Lorenzo Anderson

Horace Lorenzo Anderson

Donnitta Sinclair

Donnitta Sinclair

Anderson’s parents, Horace Anderson (left) and Donnitta Sinclair (right), have filed separate wrongful death lawsuits against the City of Seattle for allowing CHOP to exist 

Although protesters kept detectives and crime-scene investigators out of the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone, several people either contacted police or were interviewed by detectives in the 72 hours after the fatal shooting, the charges say. 

One man photographed bloodstains on the pavement and turned shell casings into police, along with notes detailing where they were found, say charging papers. Anonymous tips also identified Long as the suspect.

A Capitol Hill business owner provided police with high-quality video-surveillance footage that showed Anderson and Long talking before Long pulled a gun and pointed it at Anderson, the charges say. Other people tried to detain Long as Anderson walked away, but he ran after Anderson.

When Long and several others caught up to Anderson, the footage captured a fistfight, then Long raised his arm and appeared to fire twice with his gun, the charges say.

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk