Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Police Look for Connections in Florida Hip-Hop Shootings
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
May 14, 2019

Share

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A fatal shooting outside a crowded South Florida beachfront hotel. Another on a busy Miami Beach street. A third with no serious injuries on a major highway.

All involved hip-hop performers or guests of the Rolling Loud Festival, a three-day spectacular that concluded Sunday at the Miami Dolphins stadium, and police agencies are comparing notes to determine whether they were connected.

“IF YOU DIDN’T ENJOY ROLLING LOUD DESPITE THE HICCUPS, STAY HOME NEXT YEAR … THIS IS HIP-HOP.” Rolling Loud via Twitter

“It is all something we are investigating, but it is too early to tell,” Miami Beach police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez said Monday. No one has been arrested.

Rolling Loud organizers did not return calls and emails seeking comment. The festival’s Twitter account posted a message Monday reading, “IF YOU DIDN’T ENJOY ROLLING LOUD DESPITE THE HICCUPS, STAY HOME NEXT YEAR … THIS IS HIP-HOP.” The account was later suspended.

In the most notable shooting tied to the festival, gunmen in a passing Cadillac Escalade opened fire on rapper NBA YoungBoy as he and his 10-member entourage exited Trump International Beach Resort Miami in Sunny Isles Beach on Sunday afternoon. Those shots wounded the rapper’s 19-year-old girlfriend, Kaylyn Marie Long, and grazed a 5-year-old bystander.

Some members of YoungBoy’s party, who were legally armed, returned fire, Miami-Dade Police spokesman Alvaro Zabaleta said. One of those bullets fatally struck a 43-year-old bystander, Mohamad Jradi, as he sat in his van across the street. No members of YoungBoy’s party will be charged, as they fired in self-defense, Zabaleta said.

Four men who were later detained at the stadium as possible suspects were not connected to the shooting and were released, he said.

There did not appear to be any connection to a shooting in nearby Aventura that occurred about a half-hour earlier, Zabaleta said.

No Arrests Have Been Made

YoungBoy, whose real name is Kentrell DeSean Gaulden, was on Sunday’s lineup of performers.

Tayna Ocampo, a guest at the hotel who had come to the festival with her family from Mississippi to celebrate her daughter’s college graduation, said she enjoyed the festival, but the surrounding violence left her “shocked.” However, she understands that violence is “part of the culture” glorified by younger rappers. “These new rap stars, or whatever, that’s their thing,” she said.

The attack on YoungBoy occurred about 36 hours after Chicago-based rapper AAB Hellabandz, 24, was fatally shot outside the Cameo nightclub on a crowded Miami Beach street. A second person was hospitalized.

Security video released by Miami Beach police on Monday showed people running or ducking behind parked cars as vehicles sped away in the moments after Saturday’s shooting. Amid the chaos, the man police identified as the suspect jogged away. No arrests have been made, and AAB Hellabandz, whose real name was Ameer Golston, was not on the list of performers at the festival.

Rodriguez said Golston was wanted in Atlanta for attempted murder and armed robbery. He said detectives are trying to determine if there are any ties to the Atlanta case, the NBA YoungBoy shooting or an incident Friday morning involving two party buses hired by a festival performer that was fired upon. No one was seriously injured when a car passing them on Interstate 95 opened fire.

Meanwhile, rapper Kodak Black appeared Monday in federal court after being arrested Saturday at the festival on a weapons charge. Black slumped in his chair and rocked slowly back and forth as he surveyed the courtroom. Shackled and wearing a jail-issued tan jumpsuit and slippers, his only words were the slight mumble of his name.

Black’s attorney, Bradford Cohen, said the rapper mistakenly failed to indicate that he’s currently under indictment while filling out the form before purchasing a firearm from a licensed dealer.

DON'T MISS

Pope Francis in Critical Condition After Long Respiratory Crisis

DON'T MISS

Musk Gives All Federal Workers 48 Hours to Explain What They Did Last Week

DON'T MISS

Fresno State Suspends 2 Players, Removes Another Amid Gambling Investigation

DON'T MISS

Israel Delays Release of Palestinian Prisoners, Citing ‘Degrading’ Hostage Handovers

DON'T MISS

Officer Killed After Gunman Took Hostages at Pennsylvania Hospital

DON'T MISS

Kash Patel Plans to Move Up to 1,500 Workers Out of Washington

DON'T MISS

Fired Employees Fear Beloved Yosemite National Park Will Lose Its Luster

DON'T MISS

US and Ukraine Nearing Rare Earths Deal That Would Tighten Relationship

DON'T MISS

Trump Fires Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Two Other Military Officers

DON'T MISS

Less Is More: 5 Ingredient Dinners Are Easier Than You Think

UP NEXT

Hotels Are So Last Year – Why Everyone’s Sleeping in Castles, Caves and Cranes

UP NEXT

Voletta Wallace, Notorious B.I.G.’s Mother and Keeper of His Legacy, Dies at 78

UP NEXT

Nearly 1 in 10 U.S. Adults Identifies as LGBTQ+, Survey Finds

UP NEXT

A$AP Rocky Returns to a Life of Music, Fashion, Film and Rihanna With His Acquittal

UP NEXT

NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon Talks ‘Days of Thunder’ Sequel With Tom Cruise

UP NEXT

Death of South Korean Actor at 24 Sparks Discussion About Social Media

UP NEXT

Blink-182 Bassist’s $6M Banksy Painting Heads to Auction for Charity

UP NEXT

Where to Chill on the Cheap in the Caribbean

UP NEXT

Royal Caribbean to Launch First-Ever San Diego Cruises in 2026

UP NEXT

Sean Combs Sues NBC Over Documentary That He Says Defamed Him

Israel Delays Release of Palestinian Prisoners, Citing ‘Degrading’ Hostage Handovers

1 hour ago

Officer Killed After Gunman Took Hostages at Pennsylvania Hospital

1 hour ago

Kash Patel Plans to Move Up to 1,500 Workers Out of Washington

7 hours ago

Fired Employees Fear Beloved Yosemite National Park Will Lose Its Luster

8 hours ago

US and Ukraine Nearing Rare Earths Deal That Would Tighten Relationship

8 hours ago

Trump Fires Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Two Other Military Officers

8 hours ago

Less Is More: 5 Ingredient Dinners Are Easier Than You Think

8 hours ago

Trump-Putin Summit Preparations Are Underway, Russia Says

8 hours ago

Warren Buffett Offers Trump Some Advice While Celebrating Berkshire’s Success

8 hours ago

Hungarians Will Decide Whether Ukraine Can Join the European Union, Orbán Says

8 hours ago

Pope Francis in Critical Condition After Long Respiratory Crisis

ROME — Pope Francis was in critical condition Saturday after he suffered a prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis while being treated for pn...

29 minutes ago

29 minutes ago

Pope Francis in Critical Condition After Long Respiratory Crisis

48 minutes ago

Musk Gives All Federal Workers 48 Hours to Explain What They Did Last Week

53 minutes ago

Fresno State Suspends 2 Players, Removes Another Amid Gambling Investigation

1 hour ago

Israel Delays Release of Palestinian Prisoners, Citing ‘Degrading’ Hostage Handovers

1 hour ago

Officer Killed After Gunman Took Hostages at Pennsylvania Hospital

7 hours ago

Kash Patel Plans to Move Up to 1,500 Workers Out of Washington

8 hours ago

Fired Employees Fear Beloved Yosemite National Park Will Lose Its Luster

8 hours ago

US and Ukraine Nearing Rare Earths Deal That Would Tighten Relationship

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend