2 sentenced for Montgomery County mall shooting

ROCKVILLE, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - Two men are facing long prison terms after they both admitted to being involved in a shooting at Westfield Montgomery Mall last March.

Prosecutors say the men had been stalking an employee from Nordstrom and opened fire in a busy parking lot.

On Monday, Lucas Graves was sentenced to 20 years in prison, plus four additional years of backup time.

David Montalvo was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Both men had extensive criminal histories.

The incident occurred March 9 around 7 p.m., when two armed men - who were involved in a dispute with a mall employee over when prosecutors think may have been a stolen necklace - opened fire in a packed parking lot near Macy's, the food court, and the movie theaters.

Prosecutors say it was a miracle no one was hit, but many frightened people were sent running for their lives.

According to prosecutors, on March 8, Graves and Montalvo stalked, taunted, and hunted a man who they thought had something to do with a stolen necklace.

The pair tracked him down to a courthouse outside his apartment, and then ultimately followed him to the mall and to the women's shoe department at Nordstram where the man worked.

Store employees were so frightened by Graves and Montalvo's intimidating behavior that they called mall security.

Prosecutors say the two men were so determined for revenge that they came back to the mall the next day armed with handguns and again went to Nordstram, where they challenged the employee to meet them outside near an apartment complex across the street.

The men met up outside the building across from the mall and argued before the pair allegedly unloaded their guns into the packed parking lot outside of Macy's.

Police say they recovered one of the handguns after listening to jailhouse phone calls.