New York, May 27 (IANS) An upstart rapper from Brooklyn with a score to settle was captured on surveillance video opening fire backstage during a T.I. concert, killing one and wounding two others at Irving Plaza, police sources said.
Roland Collins (aka Troy Ave) of Brownsville accidentally shot himself in the leg during the chaos Wednesday night, sources said. Collins was charged with attempted murder and illegal weapons possession. Sources said he’s expected to face a murder charge pending the results of a ballistics test.
The suspect, who was scheduled to perform at the show, was feuding with rapper Maino, who is based in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Maino had just left the stage when his rival fired at least five shots from a 9-mm. handgun in a green room above the stage, sources said. Video shows the 33-year-old gunman barging into the backstage area just after 10 p.m. sporting a gold chain and opening fire as people scurried for cover.
It wasn’t clear whether the gunman — arrested Thursday at NYU Langone Medical Center — intended to shoot McPhatter.
Sources said Collins had no prior arrests. In a crude tweet from 2012, he wrote just how distasteful a weapons charge would be, saying, “man i’d rather accidentally get a b—h pregnant than catch a gun charge.”
Rest In Peace Bro. God bless. pic.twitter.com/Vq6qFnq5bC
— T.I. (@Tip) May 26, 2016
City Councilman Jumaane Williams and others who knew McPhatter said he’s captured on the chilling video entering the green room behind Troy Ave and then running past him as the rapper opens fire.
Before the rapper’s arrest, the victim’s mother wondered why the suspect didn’t call to offer his condolences. “If he cared about my son as much as he alleged he does, I would’ve received a call from him,” Rose McPhatter said.
Edgar McPhatter’s brother is Shanduke McPhatter, a former gangster who now serves as the executive director of the anti-violence group Gangstas Making Astronomical Community Changes.
Court papers show that Ronald McPhatter had a pending charge for attempted murder, accused of grazing a bystander during a shooting in the Flatiron District in November. He had denied the charges.
Police said the shooting began as “fisticuffs” moments after Maino left the stage at 10 p.m. Maino denied having a beef with Troy Ave, the suspected shooter, saying he had a great working relationship with him for five years.
T.I., who had yet to take the stage, was not involved in the shooting and was unharmed.
“Our music is intended to save lives, like it has mine and many others,” T.I. tweeted.
One bullet went through the floor and struck Christopher Vinson, 34, in the abdomen. Vinson declined comment when reached at Bellevue Hospital.
Maggie Heckstall, 26, shot in the leg, was also treated at Bellevue, where she was visited Thursday morning by 50 Cent. “God is good!” she wrote on Facebook.
Investigators believe the gun was brought in the back entrance used by the performers and their entourages, a source said. A team of at least six cops were at the main entrance and guests had to go through a metal detector.
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(This story has not been edited by BDC staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed from IANS.)
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