Rapper Half Ounce's walk down the street in Los Angeles turned out to be a fatal one as he was gunned down.
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said on Tuesday that its Olympic division got "numerous radio calls of shots fired" in the 700 block of South New Hampshire Avenue" around 11. 30 p.m., reported PEOPLE. According to police, a man was screaming at the time. When cops reached the scene, they found a man with a gunshot wound in front of an apartment building. The 32-year-old victim was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics with the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The victim is Latauriisha O'Brien, known as rapper Half Ounce, the L.A. County Coroner's Office confirmed. O'Brien was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot, police sources told Fox 11 Los Angeles. An SUV had approached the two after which someone in the passenger seat opened fire at O'Brien and his friend. The friend rushed away from the scene, so authorities are trying to find out who that person is.
Police also shared that when the SUV pulled up, O'Brien was talking on the phone with his pregnant wife. She is expecting his fourth child. When she heard him being shot, she ran to the scene. The rapper was a father to two boys, aged 9 months and 2, as well as an eight-year-old daughter. His relatives said that his fourth child is expected to arrive in March next year.
LAPD Lieutenant John Radtke said that authorities are going through security footage and surveillance video captured by nearby homes. They are trying to figure out why O'Brien and his friend were in the area when seven to 30 shots were fired.
As for the suspect, the person is still at large. The suspect took off in what police believe was a dark-colored SUV. He's described as a black man who was wearing dark colored clothes.
According to NBC News, Monday’s shooting happened three weeks after rapper PnB Rock was shot and killed at Roscoe’s Chicken ’N Waffles in South Los Angeles. In the Sept. 12 murder, three people, including a 17-year-old and his father, have been arrested and charged.
