Man who hurt boy, 11, and woman after opening fire in Fort Lauderdale arrested, cops say
A man who served 10 years in prison for armed robbery opened fire near a bus terminal in Fort Lauderdale over the weekend and injured an 11-year-old boy and a woman, police said Monday.
Joshua Ladson, 32, of Plantation, was arrested Monday and charged with two counts of attempted murder.
Ladson’s arrest comes a day after police arrested Stanley Johnson, 60, who detectives say gave him the gun. Johnson, who has a history of felony convictions, was charged with two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The incident happened Saturday night at 50 NW First St. in Fort Lauderdale, near the Broward Metro Transit Center.
Police say Ladson and another man had an altercation and Johnson went to his vehicle, retrieved a gun and handed it over to Ladson. The 11-year-old boy and a woman were “unintentional victims,” police said.
Both were taken to Broward General Hospital. Both were still in the hospital in stable condition Monday, police said.
On Sunday, police said a witness identified Johnson as the man who supplied the gun. Johnson was wearing an electronic monitoring device at the time of the shooting, according to his arrest report. The device revealed he was in “the immediate area” where and when the shooting took place.
Johnson later confessed to his involvement in the shooting.
Police did not say Monday what led them to Ladson. Records show that Ladson served a 10-year sentence from 2008-2018 after being convicted of armed robbery.
No details of that case were immediately available.
This story was originally published August 10, 2020 at 7:26 PM.
