shooting (6 posts)

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The man accused of gunning down Dolla says he's innocent.

Aubrey Louis Berry, the 23-year-old music promoter arrested after the up-and-coming rapper was fatally shot at a Los Angeles, pleaded not guilty this morning in Los Angeles Criminal Court, a district attorney spokeswoman tells E! News.

Berry has been held on $5 million bond since he was taken into custody Monday as he tried to board a flight at LAX. He has been charged with murder and two counts of assault with a firearm for allegedly shooting at two of Dolla's associates.

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A suspect is in custody in the rap shooting that jolted Los Angeles—and the music world—on Monday.

Atlanta-based rapper Dolla was gunned down Monday afternoon while waiting in the valet area of the Beverly Center, a popular upscale L.A. mall.

The 21-year-old up-and-comer, whose real name was Roderick Anthony Burton II, was in town to finish recording his debut album, Another Day, Another Dolla, due out this summer.

He was accompanied to the mall by local rapper D.J. Shabbaz and fellow Jive artist Scrapp DeLeon, when, shortly after 3 p.m., Dolla got into an altercation with a man and woman and was shot in the head. He was transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, just a few blocks away, where he died.

Roughly an hour later, police had a suspect was in custody.

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The man who shot and killed T.I.'s childhood friend—with bullets the rapper believes were meant for him—will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars.

A Cincinatti judge sentenced Hosea Thomas, 35, who last month was convicted of murdering Philant Johnson in 2006, to 66 years to life in prison.

"[Thomas] gave Philant Johnson a death sentence—and his family, he gave them a death sentence as well,” said Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Ralph Winkler, adding that he would show Thomas as much mercy as he showed his victim.

Johnson, who also served as an assistant to T.I., was struck in the head when Thomas fired into their SUV after a postgig party turned violent.

"All of those rounds were fired for me in my opinion," T.I. testified Nov. 21 during Thomas' trial. "Before I know it, shots rang out. At that time, we're calling everybody's name out to see if everybody was all right."

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Beverly Hills police announced Thursday that two "persons of interest" have been identified in their investigation into the shooting of Mark Ruffalo's younger brother, 39-year-old Scott Ruffalo—what officials are now calling an attempted murder.

In a press release issued by police department spokesman Lt. Tony Lee, authorities say that they're looking to question a man by the name of Brian Scofield Adham and a woman named Shaha Mishaal in conection with the shooting.

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Mark Ruffalo's younger brother has been hospitalized in Los Angeles and listed in critical condition after sustaining a gunshot wound to his head early Monday morning.

Beverly Hills Police confirm that the incident, which took place at Scott Ruffalo's apartment, was "suspicious," but they have yet to classify the tragic event as a criminal occurrence.

"Our detectives will not say if it was a shooting," Beverly Hills Police Department spokesman Tony Lee told E! News. "All we can say is that we are investigating some suspicious circumstance that was early Monday morning."

While the events leading up to the 39-year-old's extremely serious injury remain unclear, Lee confirmed that the incident took place around 1 a.m.

It's unclear who, if anyone, else was involved in the shooting, though a police investigation into the incident has been opened.

Scott Ruffalo, who is two years younger than his Zodiac-starring brother, is a Los Angeles hairstylist and has been a licensed cosmetologist in the state since 1991. He is married to Luzelena Ruffalo and has one stepdaughter.

Mark Ruffalo has yet to comment on the incident.

—Additional reporting by Ashley Fultz

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Kanye West took care of 50 Cent last year. Now he's got a whole new beef on his hands, and the outcome could cost him dearly.

Former Death Row Records overlord Marion "Suge" Knight is linking West to a shooting incident that left Knight with a bullet in his leg and some pricey bling gone AWOL.

According to a lawsuit filed Oct. 30 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles, the cash-strapped Knight claims the Graduation star failed to provide adequate security for a pre-party for the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards. Because of the supposedly lax security at the Shore Club on Aug. 27, 2005, Knigh claims an unidentified man was able to sneak in and shoot Knight as he held court n the VIP room. (View the lawsuit.)

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