Rapper Kodak Black among four injured in shooting outside Bieber concert afterparty in Beverly Grove area
Rapper Kodak Black was among four people injured in a shooting in the Beverly Grove area of Los Angeles early Saturday outside a star-studded party that followed a Justin Bieber concert for Super Bowl weekend, according to authorities.
Gunshots erupted after a fight broke out in the 400 block of North La Cienega Boulevard around 2:45 a.m., said Officer Drake Madison, a spokesman with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Three men — ages 19, 24 and 60 — were struck by gunfire, Madison said. Paramedics took two to a hospital with injuries that weren’t life-threatening, police said. The 24-year-old and another victim, whose age and gender were not disclosed, took themselves to hospitals.
All four victims were stable, police said.
Video posted by TMZ showed a group of people, including rapper Kodak Black, fighting just before the shots rang out. A man could be seen lying in the street next to a red Ferrari as partygoers crawled to take cover.
Kodak Black, 24, whose real name is Bill Kapri, was shot in the foot during the confrontation, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation.
There was no word on a suspect, and a motive for the shooting was unclear.
Bieber had performed at West Hollywood’s Pacific Design Center and was holding an afterparty at a nearby restaurant. It was the singer’s first live appearance of the year and a kind of warmup for his upcoming tour.
Kapri, whose singles include “No Flockin’†and “Tunnel Vision,†is perhaps best known for being pardoned by then-President Trump last year. The rapper was in 2019 sentenced to 46 months in prison on a federal gun charge (specifically, falsifying information on gun applications).
The move, which was one of 73 pardons Trump issued on his last day in office, converted the rapper into a vocal fan of the former president. Kapri’s lawyer, Bradford Cohen, had appeared on “Celebrity Apprentice†when Trump was the host.
Apart from adoring tweets, Kapri praised Trump in an interview with DJ Akademiks. “I would come through for that boy. I’m embedded,†he said. “I wanna wash his hand. He looked out for me greatly.â€
In April, Black pleaded guilty to the first-degree assault of a teenage girl in a deal to avoid a rape charge; he was sentenced to 18 months of probation.
“I apologize this happened, and I’m hopeful we can all move forward,†he told the victim as she watched the hearing online.
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