Weapons & Guns

Breonna Taylor's family attorney Ben Crump wants the grand jury transcript released to see if prosecutors tried to make a case for charging the cops with involuntary manslaughter ... or simply let them off the hook.

The civil rights attorney joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday and tore into Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron, and got heated about something the 3 officers did NOT do the night they raided Breonna's home and shot her.

Police reportedly failed to give Breonna medical aid for at least 20 minutes after riddling her body with bullets -- and Ben explained why, under the law, that amounts to involuntary manslaughter. The question he has is whether Cameron even presented that potential charge to the grand jury.

For now, Crump says there's only one way to know, and he's calling for public pressure on Cameron's office to release the grand jury transcript ... something Cameron said Wednesday he would not do.

Crump also has an issue with the witness who claimed to hear police announce themselves before entering Breonna's home and gunning her down. Watch the clip, and it should be clear why he, and others, feel it's crucial to know what Cameron said to the grand jury.

Two Orange County Sheriff's Deputies got into a physical confrontation with a homeless man who allegedly went after one of the deputies' guns. The homeless man was shot and killed, and it was all caught on video.

The incident went down Wednesday afternoon in San Clemente, in front of the Hotel Miramar. Cops were called after witnesses said they saw the homeless man walking in the middle of the street into oncoming traffic. Witnesses said cars honked and swerved to avoid hitting him.

According to the Orange County Sheriff's Department, when deputies from the homeless outreach team arrived, they got into a tense, physical confrontation with the man. As you see in the video ... the man appears to push the deputies. A physical encounter ensues and you can hear a deputy say, "He's got my gun" -- suddenly, 2 shots are fired.

The deputies performed CPR on the man, who died at the scene. The Sheriff's Department says surveillance video clearly shows the man trying to grab a deputy's gun.

The grand jury has indicted just one officer, Brett Hankison, on charges of wanton endangerment. Hankison was not charged for the shooting of Breonna Taylor ... he was charged with shooting into a neighboring apartment. The other 2 officers who fired shots the night Breonna Taylor was killed were not charged. In other words, no one was charged for killing Breonna.

Hankison has been indicted on three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree -- for firing recklessly and without due regard for life. His bail has been set at $15,000. Wanton endangerment carries a maximum penalty of 5 years if convicted.

The indictment has already sparked anger. Rev. Al Sharpton called it "grossly insufficient."

AG Daniel Cameron called Breonna's death a "gut-wrenching" tragedy but said his job is to follow the law. He said for civil rights violations, the federal government can charge officers who cross the line. But, civil rights lawyer Lee Merritt told us on "TMZ Live" a few minutes ago ... he believes the fix was in between Cameron and Trump, and Trump is not going to tolerate federal charges.

Merritt noted the medical examiner ruled Breonna's death a homicide, yet that seemed lost on the grand jury. Merritt mentioned an old legal joke -- that grand juries would indict a ham sandwich -- meaning prosecutors have an easy time securing criminal charges. The question ... did the AG press for a homicide indictment? We don't know, because the proceedings are secret.

A few key takeaways from Cameron's comments -- he says the 3 officers who executed the warrant had no prior knowledge of how it was obtained or the background of the case up 'til then. Cameron says they were brought in as extra personnel, and were briefed with basics. He also makes clear ... it was NOT a no-knock warrant, as has been widely reported.

Cameron assured the public -- the officers claimed they did knock and announce themselves, and says that was backed up by a civilian witness who was in one of the neighboring apartments. A journalist asked Cameron if one witness coming forward to say they heard the police announcing themselves was enough when no other neighbors could confirm it.

Cameron skirted that question and said it was clearly enough for the grand jury. There's more ... he goes on to say that after officers received no response at the door, they entered. Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly was the first one in, and apparently saw Breonna and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, standing at the end of the hall. He claims Walker was in a shooting stance with a gun in hand, and that he fired at Mattingly first, who was struck in the thigh.

Cameron says Mattingly returned fire -- shooting six times -- while another officer behind him, Myles Cosgrove, also returned fire ... unloading 16 rounds. As for Hankison, Cameron says he fired 10 rounds from outside, which went everywhere ... including into another unit.

Cameron says Breonna was struck 6 times, and that the forensic reports indicate the one fatal bullet that killed her likely came from Cosgrove's weapon. He stressed that there wasn't conclusive evidence that Hankison's bullets hit her -- it was just Mattingly and Cosgrove's, and because of that ... Cameron said his office couldn't look into any criminality around her death, as he says the 2 officers inside were authorized and justified in their use of force, under Kentucky law.

Cameron also noted that justice is not easy and not meant to appease what the public wants -- under the letter of law, it can only answer to the facts. He also pled with Kentucky residents not to allow outside influences and voices to tell them out to feel about this.

Of course, Breonna's family's own legal team -- led by Ben Crump -- feel very differently about the results here. Crump said the fact that Hankison was charged for wanton endangerment of OTHER people besides Breonna is "outrageous and offensive."

He also made a pretty good point ... that if Hankison was charged for endangering others while firing recklessly, how is it possible he wasn't charged for endangering Breonna herself? While the AG did not specifically touch on that, presumably ... Hankison, too, was found to be justified, at least in part, when he fired from the outside in.

Crump emphasized that point by writing, "How ironic and typical that the only charges brought in this case were for shots fired into the apartment of a white neighbor, while no charges were brought for shots fired into the Black neighbor's apartment or into Breonna's residence."

He goes on to call the decision an utter travesty of justice, but goes on to hold out hope that the pending federal investigation into possible civil rights violations might bring about some actual closure the family and the Black community is looking for.

It's been a long road up to this point, which Cameron also touched on ... saying he and his team wanted to turn over every stone and conduct their investigation from scratch.

MoneyBagg Yo is denying rumors he was the target in a shooting during his birthday celebration in Las Vegas.

The Memphis rapper and Yo Gotti protege addressed the incident that went down Tuesday, around 11 PM, outside the Aria Resort & Casino. As he put it on social media ... "Shot at who? Ain't no motherf***er shot at us" while sitting inside his brand new Maybach SUV ... a birthday gift from his GF.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... a group of people outside the Aria got into an altercation while in the valet section. At some point, during the fight, at least one person fired gunshots. Our sources say one woman suffered a minor grazing injury and was treated and released from the hospital.

Someone who was there was on Instagram Live when the shots rang out and captured the chaos. You can hear three shots at what sounds like pretty close range and then someone yells, "They're coming back" ... as tires screech.

We're told the shooting suspect remains at large and cops say the investigation is ongoing. While MoneyBagg Yo insists he was NOT the target this time ... there's good reason fans thought it was about him.

A father's instincts kicked in when gunshots rang out inside a car dealership ... covering his 3 kids with his body and taking a bullet for them.

The incident unfolded Monday night around 7:30 PM inside a car dealership in the Bronx when 3 men started shooting multiple rounds at a fourth guy, who returned fire.

Surveillance video shows the father sitting on a couch with his 3 small children when the bullets started flying. He immediately threw himself on top of the kids, dragging them to the floor and completely covering them with. Our law enforcement sources say the hero's name is Anthony Jefferson, and he was shot in his right thigh.

We're told Anthony was taken to a hospital and is in stable condition. The gunmen ultimately fled on foot. At this time it's unknown what led to the shooting, and police are searching for the suspects.

Dijon Kizzee was shot at 19 times by police officers and struck 15 times -- most of which hit his body as he was already on the ground -- this according to an independent investigation by his family.

The legal team for Dijon’s family just revealed the autopsy findings and sounded off on law enforcement -- specifically L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva -- claiming he and the entire department is trying to justify a blatant lack of humanity in Kizzee’s killing … which they call an execution.

Attorney Carl Douglas went first by repeating that Kizzee was shot at 19 times … which he claims shows the cops had no humanity for his life, along with poor training.

Douglas says Kizzee’s killing demonstrates a “warrior mentality” that permeates across police departments in the U.S. He adds that the 19 shots tell him the officers involved did not perceive a threat … but rather did what they felt they had to do to “maintain their integrity back at the office.”

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump referred to Kizzee’s death as an execution, and also rebuked Sheriff Villanueva for "trying to justify the unjustifiable." Crump says the shooting of Kizzee is the latest tragic example of what he calls the "1619 pandemic" … his term for the unjust killings of Black people due to systemic racism in America.

Douglas also revealed a detailed chart of Kizzee's 15 gunshot wounds, 7 of which he says were in his back as he was facing away from the cops. He says the doctor who conducted the autopsy says several of the wounds are elongated ... because Kizzee was on the ground when he was shot.

Douglas goes on to say witnesses describe hearing shots, then a pause, then a flurry of shots from the officers. The lawyer claims Kizzee was not holding a gun at any point while he was shot at by the cops. He also alleges Kizzee did not die right away, but kept getting shot at despite being unarmed.

Douglas then called for L.A. District Attorney Jackie Lacey to arrest and charge the officers who killed Kizzee.

As we told you ... Tuesday's press conference was in response to last week's claim by the Sheriff's Dept. that its investigation determined Kizzee picked up a loaded pistol that had fallen to the ground just before deputies fatally shot him on Aug. 31.

The LASD previously requested a security hold on Kizzee's county autopsy, which suggests the report won't be released until the Sheriff's Dept. has completed its investigation, which remains open.

As we've reported ... protests erupted following Kizzee's killing and have been ongoing in L.A. this month, resulting in multiple confrontations and arrests.

Video of the incident shows Kizzee -- who was initially stopped for an alleged vehicle code violation while riding a bicycle -- getting into a physical altercation with a cop, before deputies shot him multiple times as he ran away.

Like the rest of the world, Bobby Shmurda has little to no reason to celebrate 2020 -- because he's not getting out of prison just yet ... despite high hopes he would be paroled.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Bobby was denied parole after his interview with the Board last week. No reason was given as to why, but we're told he's almost certainly going to be held in custody until the very end of his max sentence ... December 11, 2021.

We know Bobby has NOT been helping his own cause while doing his time. Remember, the rapper racked up 11 violations, including drug possession, fighting and having a shank -- and good behavior clearly weighs heavily with the parole board.

As we reported ... he copped a plea deal back in September 2016 ... to conspiracy to possess weapons and possession of a weapon. The other charges -- including conspiracy to commit murder -- were tossed. Bobby was initially sentenced to 6 to 7 years in prison, and he's been in December 2014.

TMZ broke the story ... Bobby's mother told us her son was ready to drop new music if granted parole, and he also wants to produce a documentary about his life ... in the hopes it can be used as an educational tool for troubled youth.

That documentary's gonna have to wait a little longer.

Good news comes in 2s for "Storage Wars" star Dan Dotson -- the man suspected of shooting his son, Garrett, has been arrested and TMZ's learned Garrett is quickly on the mend.

A spokesperson for the Lake Havasu City Police Department tells TMZ ... detectives located the suspect, Garret Wilder, around noon Tuesday and arrested the 21-year-old without incident. We're told cops served a search warrant at the home where they found Wilder and recovered a handgun along with a single spent shell casing.

We're told Wilder was charged with 2 counts of aggravated assault, drive-by shooting, misconduct involving weapons, disorderly conduct with a weapon and endangerment. He's being held on $1 million cash-only bond.

As for what exactly led to the shooting early Sunday morning -- cops say Garrett had a heated exchange of words with Wilder, who was in his car. Wilder eventually fired one shot from a pistol, striking Garrett in the abdomen.

As we reported, he was airlifted to a Las Vegas trauma hospital where he's in stable condition. Our sources say Garrett's actually up and walking already, which is pretty amazing ... considering doctors said the bullet hit a main blood vessel and fractured his spine.

After he came out of surgery, Garrett was able to move his foot ... a very positive sign. He was moved out of ICU Sunday night and no longer needed a ventilator.

YFN Lucci came in guns blazing to a music video shoot, but didn't seem to know he had a loaded gun in his hand until it was too late.

The rapper was recently on set when someone handed him a semi-automatic weapon of some sort to use as a prop ... except it wasn't fake, this thing was very much real.

Lucci didn't seem to realize that until he pulled the trigger and fired off a round as 3 other people were gathered around him. The shot scared the crap out of everyone -- some screamed and everyone scattered. The ammo appeared to leave a hole in the studio floor.

What that could mean ... the gun was loaded with actual bullets, instead of just blanks. Obviously, super dangerous. Fortunately, it doesn't look like anyone was hurt ... at least from what we can see here.

This isn't the first run-in with clips Lucci has had lately -- you'll recall his Mercedes SUV was riddled with bullet holes in a drive-by shooting out in Atlanta, which he luckily survived. Someone else did get hit in the shoot-out though.

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.