One surveillance video has surfaced that clearly shows Troy Ave firing at least one shot at the venue. “One girl thought she saw someone get shot in front of her”, Rodriguez said, adding that T.I. was not onstage when the shots were fired. He goes by the stage name Troy Ave. It’s believed that shots rang out after a fist fight which quickly got heated.
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Collins, Heckstall and Vinson are in stable condition.
We’ll continue to provide updates as they’re made available.
In a separate interview, Bratton blasted all of hip hop, blaming the violence on “the so-called rap artists who are basically thugs that basically celebrate the violence they live all their lives”.
The NYPD confirmed to Patch that Troy Ave – who is involved with T.I.’s label, and was reportedly scheduled to open for his Wednesday-night concert – was in custody Thursday and facing charges in connection to the shooting, but not necessarily for McPhatter’s murder.
A representative for Troy Ave has not responded to Mashable’s request for comment.
“We were inside, just about to walk up to the security point, then all of a sudden we seen people running out”, said an eyewitness. She said there had been some kind of argument between two groups of people before the shooting.
A suspect has yet to be identified, and NY homicide police are trying to find out how the gunman gained entrance to the venue with a weapon. He says many were unwilling to talk with police. Maino and another rapper, Uncle Murda, were performing before an audience of about 1,000 when gunfire erupted at about 10:15 p.m. Ronald McPhatter, the rapper’s bodyguard, was shot and killed Wednesday night, though it is still unclear if the two incidents are directly connected.
At the time of the shooting, there were over 900 occupants in the room.
“They called him “Banger” because he banged on bigger dudes in basketball, not because he’s banging and shooting people down in the streets”, Shanduke said. The victim was shot in the stomach. Three others were injured.
McPhatter’s relationship to Collins was not immediately clear. A woman she had been talking to was one of the victims. How it was carried out is part of the investigation.
Liv Hoffman, 19, was in the balcony VIP area to the left of the stage when the shooting happened.
An 8-second video clip released by police shows the gunman bursting through the door of a VIP room in apparent pursuit of another man, who flees off-screen.
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There was a security check and a metal detector at the venue, but some at the concert said security was lax.
