Rapper Half Ounce, 32, Fatally Shot While on the Phone With Pregnant Wife

By Allison Schonter

Los Angeles-based rapper Half Ounce has died following a shooting Monday night. The "About It" singer, real name Latauriisha O'Brien, was shot and killed while walking down the street in the 700 block of South New Hampshire Avenue. O'Brien is the third artist to be shot in L.A. in the last two months, with the Monday incident following the Sept. 12 fatal shooting rapper PnB Rock and the Sept. 25 fatal shooting of rapper Kee Riches. O'Brien was 32.

The Los Angeles Police Department said in a news release Tuesday that its Olympic Area patrol officers responded to "numerous radio calls of shots fired, with a man screaming, in the 700 block of South New Hampshire Avenue" at around 11:30 p.m. Monday night. When officers arrived at the scene, they "located a victim in front of an apartment building, unresponsive, with gunshot wounds." Paramedics with the Los Angeles Fire Department declared the victim dead at the scene. The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office later confirmed to PEOPLE that the victim was the rapper.

Although the LAPD did not share further details about the incident, police sources told L.A.'s Fox 11 that O'Brien, who was reportedly talking on the phone with his wife, who is pregnant with his fourth child, was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot. A dark-colored SUV pulled up to the two men, and an unidentified person in the passenger's seat opened fire at O'Brien and his friend, firing at least a dozen shots. O'Brien's wife heard the gunshots and rushed to the scene. The musician was later found in a planter suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

An investigation into the shooting is ongoing, with LAPD Lieutenant John Radtke sharing, per PEOPLE, that authorities are searching through security footage and surveillance video captured by nearby homes, and trying to figure out why O'Brien and his friend were in the area when seven to 30 shots were fired. The LAPD said the suspect "is described as a male Black, wearing dark clothing. The suspect fled south in a possible dark SUV." Anyone with information on this shooting is asked to contact West Bureau Homicide investigators at (213) 382-9470.

In addition to his unborn child, O'Brien is also a father to two sons, 9 months and 2, as well as a daughter who is 8. His family told NBC 4 that his fourth child is due in March 2023. The musician released one of his latest hits, "About It," back in March and was set to release his next song, "Drop The Ball," on Oct. 14.

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