Rapper Young Dolph was shot and killed Wednesday while inside a local cookie shop in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. The 36-year-old musician, admired for his authenticity in the hip-hop music industry, was in town handing Thanksgiving turkeys and visiting an aunt who has cancer.
According to the Associated Press, Young Dolph, whose real name is Adolph Robert Thornton Jr, had just walked into Makeda’s Butter Cookies, when someone drove up and shot at the unsuspecting rapper.
Memphis Police said they do not have enough information to release information about possible suspects in the senseless shooting of Young Dolph but added that the suspects had pulled up in a white, 2-door Mercedes Benz before driving by the rapper’s car and fired shots into the beloved local cookie shop located near the Memphis airport.
Chief CJ Davis is on the scene of the shooting in the 2300 block of Airways. Please see the update below. pic.twitter.com/88vikuTOpP
— Memphis Police Dept (@MEM_PoliceDept) November 17, 2021
Fox13 was able to obtain pictures of two shooters who had open fired outside of Makeda’s. One of the suspect's appeared to be armed with a semi-automatic rifle while the other was aiming a handgun into the cookie shop.
Hundreds of people had flocked to the area as headlines of the rapper’s tragic death broke across the world. Emotions spilled over as fans and supporters laid on the ground crying and cursing in anger at the loss of the Memphis icon, while some called for an end to gun violence.
Paramedics were also dispatched to the scene after a man onboard a vehicle who drove into the crime scene was found to have sustained a gunshot. Law enforcement worked hours to push the crowd back from the crime scene as several major streets were shut down during the course of the investigation.
The rapper’s camouflage Corvette which was in the parking lot of the cookie shop was seen being towed hours later, with videos of the car being taken by the police going viral on TikTok. A memorial was laid for the rapper around the bakery, and people paid tributes in the form of stuffed animals, flowers, balloons and a dolphin sign. Fans who were interviewed by media were said to have come from as far away as Michigan to pay their respects to the rapper.
The Memphis rap icon was a regular at the cookie shop, in fact, a week before his death, Young Dolph was there promoting the well-loved bakery. The day after the incident, Makeda’s Butter Cookies was boarded up.
The Memphis community has since rallied to support the local bakeshop that was named after a 7-year-old girl who died of Leukemia. CashApp donations to the cookie shop are being accepted under the owner’s account $cookiequeen99. At the same time, renowned Memphis chef Kelly English also extended his support by donating $1 from each dessert order he receives from Thursday to Sunday night to Makeda’s Cookies.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said in a statement: “The tragic shooting death of rap artist Young Dolph serves as another reminder of the pain that violent crime brings with it.”
The incident is recorded to be the fourth high-profile shooting in the Memphis area over the past two months.
