Austin man accused of murder, attempted murder in bystander shooting death, wounding of second man in Grand Crossing

An Austin man is accused of killing an innocent bystander following an argument outside a strip of businesses in the Grand Crossing neighborhood on the city’s South Side, prosecutors said Thursday.

Trivell Pruitt, 53, faces first-degree murder and attempted murder charges in a shooting that fatally wounded the bystander, Simon Brown, 59, and seriously injured his alleged target, a 30-year-old man, according to authorities.

During a detention hearing Thursday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, prosecutors said that Pruitt told police he fired in self-defense, but authorities said the wounded victim was not armed at the time of the confrontation.

A second bystander was killed by an armed witness to the shooting, prosecutors said. The deaths came as one of three mass shootings that occurred during an unseasonably warm spell over Sunday and Monday that claimed six lives.

Judge Charles Beach ordered Pruitt detained while he awaits trial, according to court records.

Prosecutors said Pruitt and two of the victims appeared on surveillance video on the sidewalk near a mini-mart in the 7100 block of State Street near the Dan Ryan Expressway. Pruitt and the 30-year-old victim spoke intermittently for about 20 minutes before Pruitt left the group for about five minutes, prosecutors said.

When he returned, Pruitt took a gun out of his jacket and fired at the 30-year-old, accidentally striking Brown in the head as he sat on a fire hydrant behind the target, prosecutors said.

A witness to the argument and shooting then began firing at Pruitt, accidentally striking a 49-year-old man standing in the mini-mart vestibule, prosecutors said. That man later died. Pruitt then fled the scene on foot, with the witness firing in pursuit, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Pruitt was shot in the knee and the wrist while his alleged target was shot in the knee and taken for medical treatment in critical condition.

Police recovered 22 shell casings from the area of the shooting, prosecutors said. Pruitt did not have a valid concealed carry license or a firearm owner’s identification card, according to a police report.

Prosecutors did not discuss details of the quarrel that led to the shooting.

Pruitt is scheduled to return to court March 19.