US rapper Offset in stable condition after being shot outside casino
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Offset was injured in a shooting in Hollywood, Florida, on April 6.
PHOTO: PEYTON FULFORD/NYTIMES
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Francesca Regalado and Claire Moses
NEW YORK – American rapper Offset was injured in a shooting outside a casino in Hollywood, Florida, on April 6, his representative said.
The Seminole Police Department said in a statement that a shooting, which had started as a fight, occurred after 7pm in the valet area of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
The police did not name Offset, but Ms Nathalie Moar, a spokeswoman for the rapper, said he was the injured person.
As at April 7, Offset, 34, remained in a hospital in stable condition with a non-life-threatening injury, according to Mr Gary Bitner, a spokesman for the Seminole Police Department.
The police detained two people at the scene, Mr Bitner said in a statement. One of them was American rapper Lil Tjay, who was charged with disorderly conduct, a first-degree misdemeanour. He was released on bond on April 7, the police said.
Lil Tjay, 24, whose legal name is Tione Jayden Merritt, did not have a gun and was not involved in the shooting, Ms Dawn Florio, his lawyer, said on April 7.
“He did not get shot,” she said about Lil Tjay, adding that he absolutely was not the shooter.
The second person detained by the police, who was not named, was questioned and released, Mr Bitner said. The police are investigating and working to identify more people who were involved.
Offset is the stage name of Kiari Kendrell Cephus, a rapper who rose to prominence as part of Migos, an American chart-topping trio that defined a new era of Atlanta rap.
He married American rapper Cardi B, 33, with whom he shares three children aged seven, four and one, in 2017. She filed for divorce in July 2024.
In November 2022, another member of Migos, rapper Takeoff, was shot dead outside a bowling alley in Houston. The police said Takeoff had been a bystander at a private party, where an argument led to gunfire.
The man charged with his murder, Patrick Xavier Clark, is set to face trial in November 2026. NYTIMES
Derrick Bryson Taylor contributed reporting.
