Suspect now arrested in second, separate April 23 shooting in downtown Bloomington
Arrested and charged with attempted murder in connection with an early-morning shooting on April 23 near the parking lot of 6th and Lincoln streets is a 33-year-old Bloomington man, Michael V. Carson, Jr.
That’s according to a Bloomington police department (BPD) news release issued around noon on Friday (May 27).
More than three weeks earlier, BPD announced it had arrested and charged a suspect in connection with a shooting the same night, inside the Kalao Nightclub, which is two blocks northwest of the 6th-and-Lincoln location.
In connection to the Kalao shooting, BPD announced it had arrested 27-year-old Keiantrea Washington of Bloomington, and charged him with attempted murder.
According to Friday’s news release, “there was no connection between [the 6th-and-Lincoln shooting] and the shooting that occurred on the same night at the Kalao Nightclub.”
Friday’s news release describes how officers on April 23 around 1:30 a.m. responded to the scene at 6th and Lincoln streets and found a 26-year-old man in the front passenger seat of a vehicle with a gunshot wound to his abdomen.
According to Friday’s release, investigators found a single .40 caliber shell casing near the back kitchen door of the restaurant to the south of the parking lot where the victim was found.
When police were able to review video surveillance from nearby security cameras, they saw an argument between two groups of people near the back of the restaurant just before the shooting. Investigators were able to identify and interview everyone involved in the argument, according to the release.
According to the release, the argument escalated into a physical altercation, and one of the men brandished a handgun, firing it one time. Witnesses identified the shooter as Michael V. Carson, Jr., according to the release.
Carson was contacted by telephone on May 26, and asked to appear at BPD for an interview, and he arrived around 7 p.m., when he was questioned.
During that interview, investigators determined that there was no connection between the shooting allegedly committed by Carson and the shooting inside the Kalao Nightclub, according to Friday’s news release.
