Following the shocking news of the arrest of a 13-year-old boy in a murder and robbery case in Oakland, police say his alleged accomplice was only 12 years old at the time of the incident

OAKLAND – Three months after a 13-year-old boy was arrested and charged with killing a store clerk during a series of robberies, authorities announced they are investigating a then-12-year-old boy as a possible accomplice.

In total, police are investigating the boys for their possible involvement in a total of five robberies in the East Bay, all of which occurred within a five-hour period on the evening of Jan. 6, authorities said. Last February, the older boy – who was 13 at the time – was charged with the murder of 46-year-old Maged Alazzani, an employee at the Orlando Market in West Oakland. He was also accused of committing a second armed robbery that occurred 40 minutes after Alazzani's killing.

The second, younger suspect, who turned 13 about six weeks after the robbery spree, was arrested last month in connection with the robberies, but was released pending further investigation after a review by the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, authorities said.

According to police, both suspects entered the Orlando Market on Linden Street, told Alazzani, “Give me the money” and “I'm not kidding,” and then the older boy allegedly shot him in the chest. The boy then allegedly passed the gun to the second suspect, who was seen waving it around during the second store robbery about 40 minutes later.

The three other robberies that night included one at Target in Emeryville, police said. The robbers wore masks during the robberies at the supermarket, police said.

After arresting the older boy, police searched his electronic devices and found pictures of him and the younger boy posing with large amounts of cash during the same time period as the robberies, authorities said. They also reviewed audio recordings from security cameras at the stores and compared them with recordings of both suspects.