Weapons & Guns

Roddy Ricch is calling his hometown a danger zone in the wake of PnB Rock’s slaying inside a beloved L.A. restaurant.

The Compton-bred rapper admitted his PSA was a bit out of the ordinary for him, but felt the need to speak out as things continued to spiral.

He posted ... "LA ! Usually I try to mind my business and let the world rotate but we gotta do better ... It’s too much senseless violence. Too much opportunity and motivation to take things other people work hard for. It’s too much life to live to take someone else’s away."

In addition to PnB Rock's murder last week, Los Angeles has seen an upswing in violent crimes ... including armed robberies and burglaries, and Roddy's calling it out.

He added, "I love my city but we can’t keep going out like this. Before you know it, it’ll be nobody left to take from or kill. Let’s stay on point stay aware and find better ways to pursue our dreams because this shit turning into ALL NIGHTMARES."

Roddy and PnB were friends and former labelmates at Atlantic Records where they collaborated on PnB’s 2019 album "TrapStar Turnt PopStar."

LAPD's investigating potential motives in the case … including the possibility PnB’s murder was preplanned and detectives are examining his lyrics for clues to any potential beefs.

Boxer Isiah Jones was shot and killed on Monday after a dispute with a family member, his trainer, Roshawn Jones, announced Tuesday. He was 28 years old.

Roshawn confirmed the tragic news in an emotional Instagram post showing highlights of his fighter ... saying, "Isiah, Lost his life yesterday in a tragic event!"

"Please keep his family in your prayers to help them get through these rough times!"

Roshawn shared more details surrounding the boxer's death with The Ring ... telling the outlet Isiah was shot in the head after an argument with a family member.

Detroit Police Department would not identify the victim ... but told us a 28-year-old male was fatally shot by a relative in the 9300 block of Stout street.

DPD also tells us no arrests have been made at this time.

Roshawn remembered Isiah -- a native of Detroit -- for being a great fighter, but also a great father ... and always providing for his kids.

"He was a hard worker," Roshawn told the outlet. "Everyone is not perfect in life, but he was a good human being."

"He'd make you smile and laugh and was a great role model in the gym. Very humble and respectful," he added.

Jones -- who turned pro in 2016 -- had a pro record of 9-7 (with three knockouts) and an impressive amateur record of 52-2.

One of the highlights of Jones' career was winning the 2016 National Golden Gloves.

"Moonwalking in Calabasas" rapper DDG is now facing 2 counts of firearm possession and one for reckless driving ... both related to his June 2022 arrest while joyriding his Lambo.

According to new court docs obtained by TMZ Hip Hop ... DDG was hit with one count of carrying a loaded weapon, one count of carrying a concealed weapon, and one count of reckless driving -- all misdemeanors.

If he's convicted, each of the firearm charges could get him a year in jail, and reckless driving has a max penalty of 90 days.

As we previously reported, DDG was arrested back in June ... police say they observed him driving his Lambo erratically, and when they pulled him over he copped to having a 9MM handgun.

Interestingly, DDG's team claimed the L.A. County District Attorney initially declined to move forward with a case against the rapper -- who's dating "Little Mermaid" star Halle Bailey.

Charlamagne Tha God is highlighting what he sees as hip hop hypocrisy in the wake of PnB Rock's murder last week.

As The Breakfast Club crew was discussing the home invasion/robbery of Tee Grizzley, Charlamagne spoke on how rappers tend to get sad when their fellow artists get killed and flood social media with 'RIP' messages -- but then continue supporting the same lifestyle and culture that got their homie killed in the first place.

Charlamagne says the unfortunate trend of murdered rappers should have made artists smarten up by now, and he's confused why that's not more apparent by now.

TMZ broke the story ... Tee's Los Angeles suburban home was broken into a couple of weeks ago and suspects made off with more than $1 million in jewelry -- in addition to the cash they stole.

Following the report, the Detroit-born rapper took to Instagram to reassure fans he was safe but urged rappers to be careful of the content of their music ... noting how bad juju could be spoken into existence on wax. He also advised rappers to speak in third-person or from the arc of a storyteller instead of making their lyrics direct with dirt.

Tee's recently released single "Robbery Part 4" plays out just like that ... it's a fictional tale that's more cinematic than reality.

He also asked the fans to pray for King Von and PnB's families ... the latter of who say they're having a hard time getting PnB's body back to Philly due to the open homicide investigation.

Von died in 2020 after being shot and killed in Atlanta and PnB was gunned down last week while eating with his girlfriend inside a Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles restaurant.

Emoni Bates -- the No. 5-ranked high school basketball player in the country in 2021 -- has been charged with two felonies after he was arrested on Sunday, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

According to court records, the 18-year-old -- who now plays for Eastern Michigan University -- was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and altering ID marks on a firearm.

The charges stem from an arrest Sunday in Superior Township, Michigan. The Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office told WXYZ Detroit officers initially pulled over Bates for allegedly failing to stop at a stop sign -- and cops say they found a gun on him during the ensuing investigation.

Jail records show he was booked at 11:19 PM and is currently still in custody as of Monday morning.

Bates' attorney, Steve Haney, told ESPN on Monday, "Reserve judgment on this ... There's way more to the story. He borrowed someone's car, was pulled over and a gun was located in the car."

Bates was a star basketball player at Ypsi Prep Academy in Michigan -- and finished his 2020-2021 season just below Chet Holmgren and Paolo Banchero on national H.S. rankings lists.

He ultimately signed with Memphis -- but transferred to Eastern Michigan after starting just 13 games in his freshman season.

He's expected to be a key player on this year's Eagles team.

Ludacris' manager Chaka Zulu has been booked for murder after a fatal triple shooting in Atlanta ... but he has maintained since the incident it was justified.

Zulu turned himself in earlier this week at the Fulton County Jail. In addition to the murder charge, he was booked for aggravated assault, simple battery and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

Zulu says he used self-defense after being confronted by several guys outside a restaurant back in June. He claims they became aggressive, shoving him to the ground and then pummeling him with their fists and feet.

He says one of the assailants then shot him in the chest and he reacted by pulling out a gun and fatally shooting him. He was critically wounded at the time, but has recovered. At least one other man was shot during the incident.

Memphis rapper EBG Ejizzle is screwing up a sweet plea deal that kept him outta jail ... according to prosecutors who say he's gone on a mini crime spree while on probation.

According to court docs obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, EBG got locked up on September 11, just a few months after he narrowly avoided that very fate. In May, he agreed to plead guilty to aggravated assault -- a downgrade from his original charge of attempted murder -- and he got 3 years of probation instead of prison time.

Like we said ... sweet deal. However, prosecutors say things went south quickly ... as EBG failed a drug test less than 2 weeks after starting probation. They say he tested positive for marijuana, opiates, benzodiazepines and oxycodone.

To make matters worse, the 22-year-old was then accused of posting images on Facebook of a black firearm with an extended magazine, and a semi-automatic rifle.

Several days later, he allegedly shot up a parked car, and brandished the weapon in a threatening manner. According to the docs, EBG also has an active warrant for his arrest on charges of vandalism and reckless endangerment.

Ya get the point ... prosecutors are now asking the court to revoke Ejizzle's original sentence of probation, and he's currently being held without bail.

A$AP Rocky is clear ... he did NOT shoot A$AP Relli ... pushing back against his accuser, whom Rocky says is simply trying to make a cash grab.

The rapper's acclaimed lawyer, Joe Tacopina, tells TMZ ... "Rocky didn't commit a crime. It was an extortion attempt by a former associate, who threatened to make false criminal accusations if Rocky didn't pay him."

Remember ... A$AP is accused of firing shots at A$AP Relli during a dispute in Hollywood back in November, with Relli claiming bullet fragments caused a hand injury. Relli is suing Rocky over the alleged incident, and Rocky is also facing felony firearms charges.

Tacopina tells us he has 2 eyewitnesses who back Rocky's story ... not only that Relli wasn't hit by bullet fragments, but that no shot was even fired. In other words, Tacopina says Relli has made up the story in a "get-rich-quick scheme."

Rocky hired Joe because a couple of his friends -- YG and Meek Mill -- were also successfully repped by Tacopina.

Tacopina says both the civil and criminal cases against his client are slam dunks ... "What will become abundantly clear in the upcoming months, based on facts and evidence, is that Rocky is innocent of these charges."

A high school football coach was shot after breaking up a fight at the school's campus this week ... and the terrifying incident was all caught on video.

The Vallejo Police Department says the shooting happened in front of Vallejo H.S. in Northern California after classes had ended at around 3:45 PM on Tuesday.

Officials say several students were fighting with some "unknown males" ... but the brawl was broken up by Joe Pastrana, the defensive coordinator on the school's football team.

Cops say after the parties were separated, some of the people involved got into a car and started shooting backward while speeding off. Unfortunately, according to cops, one of the bullets struck Pastrana.

A bystander captured the whole thing on camera ... showing everyone running for cover when several gunshots rang out.

"The motive and circumstances involving this incident remain under investigation," authorities said in a statement this week.

Head coach Mike Wilson III told the Times-Herald the team found out about Pastrana while suiting up for practice and they took "the news very hard."

"When we found out what happened all practices were canceled," Wilson said. "When it was safe we told everyone to go home."

Wilson said Pastrana is in stable condition at a local hospital.

VP Police Chief Shawny Williams praised Pastrana for his heroism ... saying, "This is a very courageous staff member that potentially saved another child’s life or multiple people’s lives."

"Flex" rapper Rich Homie Quan is fired up these days as he's plotting a comeback to the top spot ... but he realizes things are much different in the game today than they were in 2013 when he got rich rapping.

TMZ Hip Hop spotted RHQ Wednesday in NYC, and gauged his wisdom regarding hip hop's lack of fun ... with the murder of PnB Rock being the latest dark cloud hovering over the culture.

RHQ thinks the genre's gone too soft, but also too hard in some regards, claiming hip hop needs to do away with both "bubblegum" and "shoot 'em up, bang bang" rappers.

He even bigged up Benny The Butcher as the best MC in the Empire State and urged rappers to splurge their money on property as opposed to buying expensive jewelry.

That might be a hard sell considering the messenger is iced out himself ... but RHQ is taking a veteran approach to his career these days.

The Atlanta native recently aligned his Rich Homie Entertainment imprint with industry mavens Troy Carter and Suzy Ryoo's Venice Music for his next album ... "Family & Mula," which comes out in October.

And his latest single "Krazy" features all the energy RHQ fans are accustomed to, but also ups the ante on raising awareness of the gun violence plaguing his hometown.

Tory Lanez doesn't appear to have a worry gene in his DNA -- his trial for allegedly shooting Megan Thee Stallion was supposed to start Wednesday, but there was no concern on his face outside court.

We got him on camera Wednesday, entering and exiting the courthouse, and when we asked about his current mental state, Tory coolly replied he was "chilling."

That level-headed response might've been due to the fact nothing really went down in court. The trial was postponed, yet again, partly because Tory's lawyer is in the middle of another case.

The new trial date will be between November 28 and December 8.

Megan's ex-best friend, Kelsey Harris, was also present at court and is scheduled to testify for the prosecution about what she saw that night. Remember, Kelsey was inside the SUV with Tory and Megan.

An LAPD officer testified in December 2021 that Megan initially reported her injury to be caused by broken glass, before later claiming the injuries in her feet came from Tory shooting her while yelling "dance, bitch dance."

She's explained that, in the moment, she was protecting Tory ... fearing that if she told cops he had a gun -- this was just a few weeks after George Floyd's murder -- the situation could get worse.

Tory's facing one count of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and one count of carrying a concealed, unregistered weapon.

Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles finds itself in a tough spot 24 hours after PnB Rock's murder -- it's a crisis many businesses are facing amid a violent crime wave -- when and how to resume normal operations.

The South L.A. location where the rapper was killed is open for business Tuesday, and these pics from inside show some employees working, clearing empty plates from tables. We're told the restaurant was fully functioning and had been cleaned after Monday's shooting, but understandably, there aren't many customers sitting down to eat.

What's more, we're told employees who were working during the shooting were given the day off.

TMZ broke the story, PnB was eating inside the restaurant with his girlfriend, Steph Sibounheuang, when the suspect entered, targeting the rapper for his jewelry and opening fire.

Prior to the shooting, PnB's girlfriend posted a photo of the couple's meal with their location ... and earlier in the day, PnB posted a video of himself wearing the jewelry.

PnB was rushed to a local hospital, but died from his injuries. There has not yet been an arrest made in the case and cops continue to chase down leads.

Ouncie Allen -- a top 25-ranked pro bull rider -- has been killed after a deadly shooting at a Salt Lake City apartment on Monday ... and police are calling it a domestic violence-related homicide.

He was only 27.

Salt Lake City Police Department said they received a call at 12:06 AM on Monday about a man being shot at an apartment complex located almost 2 miles south of the Utah Jazz's Vivint Arena.

When officers arrived, they found a male outside of the apartment with at least one gunshot wound ... and transported the man to the local hospital.

Sadly, the man passed away and SLCPD later identified the victim as Demetrius Omar Lateef Allen, also known as "Ouncie."

SLCPD said they arrested female suspect LaShawn Denise Bagley ... and charged the 21-year-old with murder and felony discharge of a firearm.

Detectives believe the Houston bull rider came to Salt Lake City for the Utah State Fair and was staying with Bagley during his visit. However, things apparently went bad after he left the fair.

"After attending the fair, Allen and Bagley went to a downtown bar where they got into an argument," SLCPD said.

"Allen went to Bagley’s apartment to get his property when shots were fired."

Allen was currently ranked 24th in the world in pro rodeo bull riding ... and recently won the Tri-State Rodeo event in Fort Madison, Iowa.

He also placed first at the Big Timber Weekly Rodeo in Montana and at the Northwest Montana Fair and Rodeo in August.

Ouncie's cousin, Ezekiel, is also a bull rider and was the Challenger Series Champion in 2017.

Sean Gleason, the CEO of Professional Bull Riders, said they are "shocked and saddened" by the terrible news and called Ouncie a "talented cowboy."

Allen is survived by his 4-year-old daughter.

Cassadee Dunlap's father was shot this week ... this after there was reportedly a mix-up on whose home he was in.

The Netflix star -- who appeared on the second season of "Cheer" -- hasn't publicly addressed the incident, but we've learned the man identified by authorities after Saturday's shooting, Ronald Dunlap, is in fact Cassadee's dad.

According to reports, cops say he's in critical condition after he somehow made his way into someone's apartment in Little Rock, seemingly by mistake, in the middle of the night ... and was shot by the homeowner.

It's unclear how or why this unfolded the way it did, but the person who shot Dunlap told authorities they heard someone banging at their door around 3 AM and then -- thinking there was a stranger in their kitchen -- fired several rounds, striking Dunlap.

Dunlap's brother, David, says he's still in the hospital and fighting for his life.

A neighbor's door was apparently also hit by bullets, but no other injuries have been reported. It does not appear any charges have been filed thus far either.

Rapper PnB Rock was shot while dining with his girlfriend at a Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles restaurant ... and video shows him fighting for his life.

The shooting just happened, with restaurant employees in a panic as the rapper lay on the floor. Law enforcement sources say they got a call to the restaurant at 1:23 in the afternoon for a shooting victim.

The video shows Rock still moving, but it's possible he may have taken a turn for the worse.

We don't yet have any info on the shooter, but we know PnB was there dining with his girlfriend, Steph, who posted a photo of their meal. A source connected to the restaurant tells TMZ ... it appears the shooter targeted PnB, because no one else was shot or assaulted, and there were plenty of people eating inside the restaurant.

Our source adds it appears the shooter took jewelry off PnB and then fled. PnB had previously posted video of himself wearing several diamond/silver chains.

We're told there's surveillance cameras inside the restaurant, so it may help police apprehend the shooter.

Rock is originally from Philly, but calls L.A. home. He released his debut mixtape in June 2014, and in 2015 signed a record deal with Atlantic Records. In 2016, Rolling Stone named PnB on the list of "10 New Artists You Need to Know."

Lil Tjay seems to be doing fine following his near-fatal shooting this summer … just ask 50 Cent, who was all smiles while flicking it up with the “FN” rapper.

Tjay posted a double selfie Monday … referencing both his and 50 Cent’s brushes with death with the caption “MANY MEN" loaded with thinking emojis.

The Trench Kid was hanging out in L.A. while taking in a special performance from his rap O.G.’s Snoop Dogg, Tony Yayo, Flo Rida and O.T. Genasis … who jokingly used 50’s song “I’m Supposed to Die Tonight” as a punchline for Tjay’s good fortune.

Of course, it’s historic knowledge 50 Cent survived being shot 9 times prior to making it big as a rapper … and famously detailed the incident in his song “Many Men” from his diamond-selling debut album, “Get Rich Or Die Trying.”

The song has been a popular remake for rappers in the past … 21 Savage, Polo G and the late Pop Smoke, among others, have their own versions -- and it would be a nice fit for Tjay’s comeback catalog.

Tjay was shot 7 times before bouncing back with the song “Beat The Odds” and revealed he started walking a week after coming out of surgery.