Marion 'Suge' Knight, founder of Death Row Records, was shot twice Sunday inside a West Hollywood nightclub at a pre-MTV Video Music Awards party hosted by singer Chris Brown, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Gunfire erupted inside the club around 1:30 a.m. as Brown was performing, sending patrons running and screaming into the street, according to authorities and witnesses. By the time deputies arrived, the gunman was gone.
The 49-year-old Knight, who has family in Vicksburg, Miss., managed to walk out of the club and was helped into a sheriff's patrol car, where he remained until an ambulance arrived, authorities said. He was then taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he underwent surgery. He is expected to recover. Knight's father and uncle are Mississippi natives.
An unidentified man and woman who were also wounded in the shooting were taken to area hospitals, authorities said. Their conditions were not immediately known, but they were both expected to recover.
Sheriff's Lt. John Corina said a lone gunman walked up to Knight and shot him. He said that there was no altercation or words exchanged and that the whole episode was caught on camera.
'We believe it was a crime of opportunity,' Corina said.
Sheriffs are seen outside the 1OAK club, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2014, in West Hollywood, Calif. Death Row Records founder and rap mogul Marion 'Suge' Knight was injured in an early morning shooting Sunday in the packed nightclub but was expected to survive, a Los Angeles County sheriff's sergeant said. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)(Photo: Mark J. Terrill/AP)
Law enforcement sources said a preliminary investigation suggests that Sunday's shooting is probably connected to gang rivalries and Knight's connections with Compton's Bloods gang. They said several known members of the Blood gangs were present at the party.
Detectives are reviewing video footage of the event to see if they can identify the shooter.
Several partygoers on Sunday posted clips on Twitter and Instagram of the event showing revelers inside the club ducking before running for the doors. Brown, who was standing on a table performing when the shooting started, tweeted Sunday: 'It's disappointing that we as a society can't have fun or enjoy ourselves without any altercations sometimes.' Later, Brown said in a statement that he was cooperating with the investigation and that the shooting was unrelated to him.
The shooting occurred the night before the MTV Video Music Awards, which were held Sunday night at the Forum in Inglewood. A spokesman for the music network said Sunday that 'MTV has no affiliation nor is connected' in any way with the 1 0AK party.
Knight's family called for prayers for the mogul. 'The family of Suge Knight asks that you keep Suge in your prayers and to stray away from the negativity portrayed by the media,' Knight's family said in a statement to Revolt, another music TV network. 'Suge is currently resting and has lost a lot of blood, he's human. He's done a lot of things for the community and the culture as a whole so we ask that you respect that.'
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