Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore paid tribute to the late rapper Nipsey Hussle just hours after a drive-by shooting “in the midst” of his funeral procession left one person dead and several others injured.
During the early morning hours of Friday, April 12, and just one hour after he announced a tragic shooting had occurred, Moore took to Twitter to join the flood of people paying tribute to the late rapper, who was tragically shot and killed on March 31 at the age of 33.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“Today 10 of thousand gathered in tribute 2 Nipsey Hussle,” he wrote. “LAPD showed the world that the men and women of this Department are compassionate and without peer. They worked seamlessly with our community advocates to keep the peace. I’m grateful #ITSWHATWEDO.”
Earlier in the day, a crowd of 21,000 people, including fans and family members, had gathered at Los Angeles’ Staple Center for a celebration of life memorial service to honor the late rapper. With performances from household names and emotional speeches from Hussle’s longtime girlfriend, Lauren London, and mother, Angelique Smith, the crowd soon joined a 25.5-mile funeral procession.
The procession started in Exposition Park and wound its way through Inglewood, South Los Angeles and Watts, passing USC, Hussle’s childhood home, and The Marathon Clothing store before it ended at the Angelus Funeral Home.
“Our people are working to provide for the safe passage of this procession,” Moore had tweeted during the procession. “I’m proud of their work as they encounter this extraordinary outpouring of our communities. My thank also to our community partners who act as peacekeepers.”
Just an hour later, however, a second tweet announced that a drive-by shooting had occurred “in the midst” of the 25.5-mile procession, leaving one person dead and three others injured.
“In the midst of this procession we have a multi-4 Shooting at 103 St and Main St. Victims are 3 Male Blacks and 1 Female Black – ages from 30-50 years old. Tragically one is deceased. Suspects in gray Hyundai fired on the victims,” he wrote. “We must stop this senseless violence.”
Although many reacted with shock and heartbreak, several others urged Moore to retract his “misleading” statement, as the intersection of 103 St and Main St. “were not on the route” and the procession had “ended around 7:00pm on Crenshaw and 39th.”
Moore has not yet responded to the accusations that his statement was misleading.
Hussle is survived by his longtime girlfriend, Lauren London, and their 2-year-old son Kross. He is also survived by his daughter from a previous relationship, Emani.
The man charged with his murder pleaded not guilty to one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder and possession of a firearm by a felon during an initial court appearance.
