Rapper Nipsey Hussle was killed Sunday afternoon in a shooting outside his store in South Los Angeles that left two other people wounded, law enforcement sources said.
Hussle was shot multiple times and rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Los Angeles police had closed off the area at West Slauson Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard as the investigation continued.
Hussle, born Ermias Asghedom, was from South L.A. and had talked in the past about his early life in a street gang. He was a well-known community organizer who most recently was involved in the new Destination Crenshaw arts project.
He was an up-and-coming artist, who was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap Album for 2019.
Hussle told The Times in 2018 that he had managed to develop a love of music and technology, the latter of which led him to combine his interests in several entrepreneurial pursuits, including the store outside of which he was shot on Sunday.
Hussle called it a “smart store” because visitors could use an app to enhance their experience while shopping for his fashion brand, the Marathon Clothing.
“I grew up in gang culture,” he said. “We dealt with death, with murder. It was like living in a war zone, where people die on these blocks and everybody is a little bit immune to it. I guess they call it post-traumatic stress, when you have people that have been at war for such a long time. I think L.A. suffers from that because it’s not normal yet we embrace it like it is after a while.”
In a 2014 interview with YouTube channel Vlad TV, Hussle confirmed that he had joined the Rollin’ 60s, a notorious Crips gang clique, as a teen.
Times staff writer Sonaiya Kelley contributed to this story.
