New details emerge about Triangle Town Center shooting as suspect appears in court
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- State: Neal wasn’t involved in the fight between three teens and mall employee.
- Defense: Neal and the employee were friends; Neal was trying to protect him.
- Wake judge not convinced by arguments from Neal’s defense attorney -- bail denied.
The man accused of shooting four people at Triangle Town Center in April may have been trying to protect his friend who was an employee at the mall, his defense attorney said Tuesday.
Marcus Stephon Neal III, 18, of Raleigh, was charged Monday in connection with the April 17 shooting at the northeast Raleigh mall. Neal is accused of firing at least seven shots, injuring three people and firing in the direction of two others, court records show.
The Raleigh Police Department said Monday it also filed juvenile petitions against three minors for misdemeanor rioting and misdemeanor assault, The News & Observer previously reported.
Raleigh police presented an initial version of events shortly after the Friday afternoon shooting: Three 17-year-olds confronted and assaulted a 20-year-old employee near the Express store, then the employee pulled out a gun, The N&O previously reported.
Three people — the employee and two of the teenagers — suffered gunshot wounds, Raleigh police said at the time. The N&O isn’t naming the employee as he hasn’t been charged with a crime.
At Neal’s first appearance Tuesday, prosecutors with the Wake County District Attorney’s Office said Neal was not involved in the fight between the employee and three teenagers and is friends with the employee.
When the group of teenagers, wearing black masks, allegedly assaulted the employee, the employee pulled out a Glock, and shots were fired, prosecutors said. As the teenagers struggled with the employee over the gun, Neal allegedly began firing at the group. The employee allegedly suffered three gunshot wounds.
Prosecutors argued Neal should be held without bail pursuant to Iryna’s Law, which mandates that those accused of certain violent offenses must be held initially without bail.
John Fitzpatrick, Neal’s lawyer, argued for a $50,000 bail, pointing to Neal’s lack of a criminal record, early graduation from Southeast Raleigh High School, his current employment at Amazon and his family and community support. A few dozen people, including Neal’s mother, father and grandmother, sat in the first two rows of the courtroom.
But Wake County District Court Judge Mark Stevens pressed Fitzpatrick, asking the defense attorney to tell him what bond was appropriate for someone who enters a mall on a Friday afternoon and shoots multiple people. That drew several soft gasps from the second row.
Fitzpatrick, noting several times that he only was reciting what law enforcement told him, said Neal wasn’t trying to shoot the employee, who was his friend. But in trying to ward off the group of teenagers, a bullet may have gone through the intended targets and struck the employee.
Stevens asked Fitzpatrick why Neal left the scene. Fitzpatrick said everyone was leaving the mall. Stevens also asked Fitzpatrick where Neal and the employee got their guns. Fitzpatrick, repeating what he said law enforcement told him, said Neal allegedly got the gun from a kiosk the employee worked at. It was unclear to Fitzpatrick where the employee got a gun from.
After continued questioning, Stevens said he had heard enough and that there was nothing Fitzpatrick could say to convince the judge to grant bail.
Neal is being held without bail in Wake County custody. His next court date is May 20.
This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 5:25 PM.
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