Weapons & Guns

The Notorious B.I.G.'s famed King of NY crown just got passed on to another for an absurd price -- over half a million bucks, which is juuust a bit north of the OG street value.

It's true, the headpiece Biggie wore in his iconic final photoshoot from 1997 -- that's been duplicated in prints thousands of times over -- just got sold off in a Sotheby's auction ... ultimately going to a bidder who was willing to spend a whopping $594,750 for the thing.

Pretty badass, right?!? Well, maybe ... keep in mind, the crown is actually made of plastic -- and ended up costing the photog who first used it with Biggie a mere $6 off the street.

Do the math ... and that's just about a 10,000,000% markup in value. And, all because the crown was worn by B.I.G. -- plus, the fact it's gone on to become a fixture in pop culture.

And, get this -- the photog, Barron Claiborne, says the crown concept almost didn't happen ... and it's apparently because Diddy wasn't feeling it at the time, allegedly saying it was gonna make Biggie look like "Burger King." Big Poppa didn't care though ... he wore it anyway.

As they say, heavy is the head that wears the crown. And, even heavier is the price tag.

The son of "Storage Wars" star Dan Dotson got shot and had to be airlifted to a hospital for surgery ... but he's expected to survive.

Dan shared the troubling news Sunday on Twitter, saying he got a call his son, Garrett, was shot in Lake Havasu, Arizona. Dan said Garrett was stable at first, but then things got worse a few hours later.

Garrett's mom, Laura, tells TMZ ... her son was walking his date to a car when he heard someone say something and then he got shot. She said he was able to call 911 himself and rushed to a local hospital ... where doctors determined the bullet hit a main blood vessel to his heart and also fractured his spine.

Laura says the injury was so bad he had to be airlifted to a Vegas trauma hospital ... and during the flight a doctor's hand was in Garrett's chest to stop the bleeding. She says the move saved his life.

We're told he's now out of surgery and was able to move his foot, which is a very positive sign.

Dan wrote ... "Thank you to the surgeon that saved my son from bleeding out on the air trip to Vegas Thank you everyone for the prayers & positive thoughts thrown our way. Garrett is out of surgery & is expected to survive."

Two L.A. County Sheriff's deputies were shot Saturday night and are now fighting for their lives.

The deputies -- a man and a woman -- were sitting in their patrol car Saturday in Compton when a man walked up to the car with a gun and fired inside, striking both. The man quickly fled from the scene.

The Sheriff's Dept., says both deputies were shot multiple times and they are both undergoing surgery. Their condition is critical.

The suspect was not caught. The LASD tweeted the video of the incident after holding a press conference last night.

The 2 critically injured deputies had only been on the force for 14 months.

Rapper Lil Mosey has learned his lesson ... at least when it comes to surfing.

The "Pull Up" rapper doesn't seem to have a single ounce of worry as he took surfing lessons while in the middle of a very serious gun case. Surfing instructor Alex Hoffman tells TMZ ... the rapper and some friends took lessons in Malibu earlier this week.

We're told his lesson lasted nearly 2 hours ... first a tutorial on the sand where Alex taught him how to position himself on the board, paddle and then pop up on his feet. Armed with the basics, he hit the waves -- and even though he ate it, we're told Mosey did pretty well during the training sesh.

This, of course, is one helluva juxtaposition considering he's in the middle of a serious gun case. TMZ broke the story ... the 18-year-old was busted in Burbank last month after cops found 3 loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistols in the Escalade he was riding in with 3 other people.

Kyle Rittenhouse shooting and killing 2 protesters with a semi-automatic rifle is just one of those stupid things all teens do ... at least that's Donald Trump Jr.'s absolutely shocking theory.

President Trump's oldest son shared that offensive take during an "Extra" interview with ex-'Bachelorette' star Rachel Lindsay ... who asked why his father still hasn't condemned Rittenhouse's actions.

Don Jr. says they're waiting for due process and don't want to jump to any conclusions -- which is ironic considering his dad does that all the time. Yet, he clearly defended the 17-year-old charged with 2 homicides.

Trump Jr. says if he puts himself in Rittenhouse's position ... "Maybe I shouldn't have been there. He's a young kid. I don't want 17-year-olds running around the street with AR-15s. Maybe I wouldn't have put myself in that situation, who knows. But, we all do stupid things at 17."

When Lindsay called him out for minimizing the incident, Don replied ... "Really stupid, fine."

The truth is ... Jr. and his daddy have no qualms whatsoever about condemning demonstrators against systemic racism and police brutality without getting all the facts straight. So, Don Jr.'s excuse for failing to condemn an alleged killer speaks volumes.

Tory Lanez allegedly opened fire on Megan Thee Stallion because he was wasted -- that's what he claimed in a text sent to her shortly after the bloody incident ... as she was still in a hospital bed.

TMZ has seen the text Megan got on the evening of July 12 ... roughly 15 hours after she claims Tory shot her in her feet, and in it, he's begging for forgiveness. He wrote, "I know u prolly never gone talk to me again, but I genuinely want u to know I'm sorry from the bottom of my heart."

His only explanation for the violence ... "I was just too drunk."

In the text, Tory never references "shooting" or a gun, but it is clear he did something he regrets. In his words, "None the less s**t should have never happened and I can't change what did. I just feel horrible."

And, he repeats ... "Cuz I genuinely just got too drunk."

TMZ broke the story ... Tory, Megan and another friend had been party hopping in the Hollywood Hills early on July 12. Police responded to reports of shots fired from or around an SUV.

When they pulled over Tory's chauffeur-driven ride ... they directed everyone inside to slowly exit the vehicle -- and it was obvious Megan was bleeding from her feet as she gingerly walked backward from the vehicle.

Tory was arrested for possession of a concealed weapon ... a handgun cops say they found under the front passenger seat where he'd been sitting.

Since then Megan has publicly called out Tory ... alleging he is the one who pulled the trigger and shot her in her feet, and she even posted some gruesome pics of her injuries.

Tory has not been arrested or charged for the shooting, but as we first reported, the L.A. County D.A. is considering charging him with felony assault with a firearm.

A protest over the death of Dijon Kizzee ended with a confrontation with cops, as rubber bullets went flying and pepper balls exploding.

Hundreds of protesters marched Saturday, at times shutting down the 110 Freeway. The protest went into the evening, and when the marchers arrived at the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. things took a turn.

Deputies set up barriers at the building ... some poised on the roof with guns.

Just after some protesters shouted obscenities at the deputies, one of the cops hurled a flash bang and so began the move to clear the area with rubber bullets and pepper balls. It looked like a war zone as protesters scattered.

Ahmaud Arbery's mom says her son's death has become a full-blown business for one of her son's friends, a former coach and others -- and she's blasting all of them for profiting off tragedy.

Wanda Cooper-Jones says she's alarmed by the "I RUN WITH MAUD" social media pages, which were initially started as a memorial to her son. She says Ahmaud's friend, Akeem Baker, came to her with the idea and she was on board at first, but doesn't like the fact the page is now being run like a business.

She also says she's being denied administrative access to the page.

Wanda claims Akeem even started a GoFundMe page for her son -- which she never asked him to do -- and it's raised nearly $2 million. The page says the money's going to Wanda, but she's already back to work.

Ahmaud's mother is also incensed someone filed for an "I Run With Maud" trademark. She doesn't say who did it, but does say the applicant never even knew Ahmaud.

Next on her list is Foundation 2.23 ... which refers to the date Ahmaud was killed. Wanda says it was founded by Jason Vaughn, a local high school coach who did not have a close relationship with Ahmaud. She says the org held a big fundraiser, but wants to make it clear the foundation is not affiliated with her family.

She says she could not stay silent in the face of what she sees as injustice. Wanda's bottom line is ... she's not asking for any money, because no amount of cash can change the fact she had to bury her son.

Jacob Blake appeared publicly for the first time after being shot in the back 7 times and paralyzed ... he entered a plea in his criminal case from his hospital bed.

Jacob made a court appearance via video Friday, on charges unrelated to the incident in Kenosha. He was sitting in his hospital bed, wearing a blue dress shirt with a yellow tie.

Blake's accused of criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and 3rd-degree sexual assault. The charges were filed before he was shot by police, and they are unrelated to the shooting which left him unable to walk.

Jacob briefly spoke to the judge when asked if he understood the charges against him ... he pled not guilty to all 3 charges.

As you know ... Jacob was shot 7 times in the back by a cop as he tried entering his vehicle.

A potentially big development in the Breonna Taylor killing ... at least one of the cops who raided her home appears to have been wearing a body cam, raising questions about the police department's earlier statements that there was no body cam video of the shooting.

Officer Tony James is seen in this photo clearly wearing a body cam. The photo was obtained by VICE news, and it contradicts the police chief, who said after the shooting the officers involved are in divisions that don't require body cams.

What we don't know ... was the camera operational during the shooting? If it was, it could be the critical piece of evidence to determine exactly what happened inside Breonna's home.

A second officer -- Myles Cosgrove -- was also photographed with a body cam mount, but a camera was not attached.

Breonna, who was shot multiple times in the raid, and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were sleeping on March 13 when cops came to execute a search warrant involving her ex-boyfriend. They used a battering ram to gain entry and Walker fired a warning shot from inside.  He says cops never identified themselves ... police say they did.

Walker's shot hit a cop, and officers responded with 35 rounds. One officer blindly fired 10 rounds. When cops wrote up their report they said Breonna was not injured.  That was a lie.

As we reported, local prosecutors tried to squeeze a plea deal out of Breonna's ex-boyfriend, telling him if he would say Breonna was dealing drugs they would cut him a sweet deal -- possibly probation instead of 10 years in prison. Cops have no evidence Breonna was involved in drugs and the family says it's a shocking case of trying to smear Breonna's name in order to protect the cops who killed her. The ex-boyfriend rejected the deal.

Joe Biden spent over an hour face-to-face with Jacob Blake's family ... and even spoke with Jacob by phone from his hospital bed.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said the Democratic Presidential nominee, along with his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, spent a "very engaging" 90-minute in-person meeting with Jacob's father, sisters and brother in their hometown of Kenosha, WI. Crump joined by phone along with Jacob's mother and Jacob himself from his hospital bed.

Crump, the Blake family's attorney, says they were "very impressed that the Bidens were so engaged and willing to really listen." He added ... "They talked about changing the disparate treatment of minorities in police interactions, the impact of selecting Kamala Harris as a Black woman as his running mate" and his plans for change.

As for Biden's convo with Jacob himself ... Crump says the candidate extended "a sense of humanity, treating him as a person worthy of consideration and prayer."

The sit down comes less than a week after Jacob's father spoke by phone with Biden and Harris.

Damian Daniels, the African-Amerian Army vet killed by cops in Texas, was desperately in need of mental counseling, and not sheriff's deputies responding with force ... according to the family's lawyer.

Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt and Damian's brother, Brendan, joined us on "TMZ Live" to discuss the case which is stirring outrage in the San Antonio area and beyond. Brendan says his family was doing everything they could to avoid having police check on Damian -- a combat veteran who was experiencing some mental distress.

He told us why they purposely called the Red Cross, and not cops, to do a welfare check on his brother just over a week ago -- but in the end, he says the Red Cross ended up calling the Bexar County Sheriff's Department. Brendan and Lee believe that's where things took a horrible turn.

When deputies arrived at Damian's home he was armed, and a struggle ensued with deputies who ended up fatally shooting him. The Sheriff's Dept. claims Damian was suicidal, but Lee and Brendan say that's just not true.

They know Damian was hurting, struggling with mental issues brought on by several recent deaths in their family -- but they don't believe for a second he was threatening to anyone. As for his weapon ... Texas is an open-carry state and the gun was legally owned. Brendan says his brother actually got it while serving America in the Army.

A Bay Area police officer's been charged with voluntary manslaughter for shooting and killing a black man who was wielding a bat in Walmart.

The San Leandro cop, Jason Fletcher, made no attempt to de-escalate the situation before fatally shooting 33-year-old Steven Demarco Taylor ... according to Alameda County District Attorney, Nancy E. O’Malley.

The D.A. claims Taylor didn't pose an imminent threat of death or great bodily injury to Fletcher or others in the store, and says she made the decision Wednesday to charge the officer with manslaughter.

As we reported ... cops responded to the Walmart outside Oakland on the afternoon of April 18, and encountered Taylor with an aluminum bat in his hands.

Police say they used Tasers on him first near the shopping carts area, but video showed he was shot multiple times by either a Taser or a gun ... even after he had dropped the bat and fallen limp to the ground.

Prosecutors claim Fletcher did use a stun gun on Taylor first, but then shot him in the chest. The entire encounter lasted roughly 40 seconds.

Silento allegedly got loud and threatened people with a hatchet while trying to find his girlfriend ... and now he's facing felony charges.

The "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" rapper was arrested last weekend after a bizarre incident in which law enforcement sources tell us ... he walked into a house with a hatchet in hand as he looked for his GF.

We're told someone in the house screamed for help and others took him down and disarmed him. Our sources say shortly afterward, Silento's friend arrived and told him it was the wrong house ... and they fled as cops were called.

Police caught up with the rapper, though, and took him to jail. He's now officially been hit with 2 felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

Cameras captured L.A. Rams head coach Sean McVay when he watched the Jacob Blake police shooting for the first time ... and his reaction is emotional.

"Are you f*cking kidding me?" McVay says in shock ... "What the f*ck is wrong with people?!"

The moment played out in the opening scene of Tuesday's episode of the HBO docu-series "Hard Knocks," which follows the Rams through training camp.

In this powerful scene, Artis Twyman -- the Rams' Director of Communications -- brings the video to McVay because he thinks it's important for the head coach to see.

"His kids are in the back," Twyman explains while showing McVay the August 23 incident which took place in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

McVay, astonished, says to Twyman -- "That is awful. That makes me sick."

McVay discussed the possibility of canceling practice the next day in the wake of the shooting ... but ultimately held a normal practice.

The team did hold a team meeting to discuss the shooting.

Of course, many NFL teams did cancel their scheduled workouts so players could take action after the shooting ... including the Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers and more.

The L.A. Chargers -- also featured on "Hard Knocks" -- canceled a scrimmage after the shooting and the announcement from head coach Anthony Lynn was also featured on the show.

Breonna Taylor's boyfriend is going after Louisville police for the allegedly botched raid at her home that left Breonna dead, claiming he's the victim of police misconduct ... and he didn't actually shoot one of the officers.

Kenneth Walker filed a civil lawsuit Tuesday, asking the judge for a declaration of immunity from prosecution in the criminal case for firing a single "warning shot" after cops rammed the door to enter Taylor's apartment in the middle of the night back in March while executing a search warrant.

As you know ... police claim Walker's shot struck Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly in the femoral artery in his thigh, but his legal team refutes that.

Walker's lawyers say evidence indicates that police may have shot Mattingly as they were "firing wildly from various angles."

According to the lawsuit ... Walker was interrogated by police after the shootings and was then wrongfully and illegally arrested, detained, charged and prosecuted.

Walker now wants to avail himself of Kentucky’s stand your ground law, which he claims operates to prevent law enforcement from prosecuting him after he fired the shot in self-defense. In other words, it seems the lawyer is saying Walker had a right to fire a shot under the stand your ground law, so he would therefore be immune from criminal prosecution.

According to the docs, he's specifically concerned about being hit with an attempted murder charge that was previously dropped without prejudice.

Taylor's boyfriend is also seeking damages for assault, battery, false arrest and imprisonment, malicious prosecution, abuse of process and negligence stemming from the incident.

As we've reported ... none of the officers involved in the raid and shooting of Taylor have been arrested, though one cop -- Brett Hankison -- has been fired.