MASON CITY – Tensions were running high on Mason City’s north end Tuesday after a shooting took place that took the life of a man, Brandon Crawford.
The incident took place at Casey’s General Store, 813 North Federal Avenue, and was reported to authorities at 4:54 p.m. The shooting suspect, Jamaal J. Leslie, 31, fled the scene and was apprehended at the 300 block of North Madison Avenue.
Mason City police squad cars were still parked at Casey’s General Store on North Federal Avenue at 1:00 a.m. with their engines running and lights flashing.
In the hours that followed the shooting, neighbors were out in full force in the area talking about the incident and speculating as to what caused the shooting.
Police remained on the scene, from Casey’s all the way to near where the suspect was apprehended on North Madison, looking for a semi-automatic hand gun. A metal detector and canine were assisting in the search; police had asked neighbors to go back inside their homes for awhile while they looked through bushes and under porches for the gun.
However, people remained outside and tempers ran high; there was at least one altercation where a person who knew the victim exchanged words with a bystander; police arrested one young man. More specifically, the incident involved a woman and a teenager on a bike who had been sitting across the street from Casey’s. A witness said, “the lady was a friend of the victim and had just got back from the hospital. The boy was laughing and making rude comments, this is what set the lady off.” A police officer went across the street to break up the argument, words were exchanged and the boy was wrestled to the ground, handcuffed and taken away. (See photo above.)
