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Manhunt Continues For Suspected Orland Park Mall Shooter, Jakharr Williams

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The manhunt continues for 19-year-old parolee Jakharr Williams, the suspect in the deadly Orland Square Mall shooting, and police said he should be considered armed and dangerous.

jakharr williams
Jakharr Williams, 19, is wanted for murder in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Javon Britten at Orland Square Mall on Jan. 21, 2019. (Source: Orland Park Police)

Williams is wanted for the shooting Monday that killed an 18-year-old high school senior and created enormous panic at the Orland Square Mall in Orland Park.

Tuesday afternoon the family of the victim, 18-year-old Javon Britten, made a plea to the killer.

"Surrender," the victim's aunt Stephanie Kizer said. "So we can have peace, you can have peace."

Williams and Britten knew each other, Britten's family said. Another family member with Britten at the mall said he and Williams had words then Williams shoved Britten.

"My nephew pushed him away, the shooter. He reached in and pulled out a gun and fired five times on him," Kizer said.

The gunfire caused panic inside the mall and shoppers took shelter.

"Screaming and running," one mall employee said. "It all happened so fast. Everybody was just going crazy."

In 2017, Williams was convicted of armed robbery. He is now on parole.

There was no answer this afternoon at his listed address in south suburban University Park.

Javon Britten was a senior at Rich Central High School. A former teacher called him a "very nice young man with a bright future, well-liked by his classmates and teachers."

The school brought in crisis counselors Tuesday.

His mother called him lovable and a hard worker.

"He was my angel," she said. "He'd say 'I gotta go work. I gotta go shovel snow.' Anything he could do honestly for a dollar he did. He worked at Red Lobster. He's a wonderful kid. The best child you could ask for. The best child I could ask for."

Britten's family member who was with him at the mall suffered a graze wound and is okay.

Community activists are offering a $2,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of the killer.

 

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