Violence struck at a massive event honoring Nipsey Hussle in Los Angeles on Thursday. Four people were shot, one fatally, as they stood with crowds packed along a 24-mile route to view the rapper’s passing hearse.
Three men and a woman were hit in the drive-by shooting from a gray Hyundai after the funeral procession passed 103rd and Main streets in South Los Angeles, Police Chief Michel Moore said in a statement.
The identity of the person who was killed wasn’t immediately released. Nor was the motive. Victims ranged in age from 30 to 50.
“We must stop this senseless violence,” Moore said.
Moore tweeted an hour earlier that he was “proud” of his Los Angeles Police Department officers and grateful to local leaders for a peaceful, “extraordinary outpouring of our communities.”
It was the second event honoring Hussle to be marred by violence. Two women were injured in a shooting April 1 at a vigil for the slain rapper and several others were hurt in a stampede of panicked mourners. Police initially said no gun was involved, but it turned out that both women suffered bullet wounds, the Los Angles Times reported. Police believe they may have been the target of gang violence.
Hussle, 33, a Grammy-nominated rapper and community activist, was shot multiple times the night of March 31 outside his clothing store in the South Los Angeles community he hoped to revitalize. Eric Holder, 29, has been charged with the killing.
The memorial service Thursday for Hussle — born Ermias Asghedom — was held at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, attended by about 21,000 people, including Beyonce, Jay-Z and Snoop Dog.
Hussle’s fiancée, Lauren London, called the rapper “majestic” and “brilliant.” She said that, although she was suffering, she was particularly sad for their son, Kross, whom she feared wouldn’t remember his dad. “My pain is for my 2-year-old.”
Hussle’s mom, Angelique Smith, called her son a “superhero.”