Rapper Rick Ross crashed his Rolls Royce early this morning in what may have been a drive by shooting targeted at the hip-hop star.
According to local news sources, Rick Ross was fired upon at around 5 AM Monday, but little is known about the specifics or who may have targeted the rapper in the shootout.
An NBC affiliate in Fort Lauderdale said Rick Ross “may” have been in the car when the Rolls Royce crashed after the gunfire, and the news station explains the events leading up to the incident:
“Police officials say shots were fired around 5 a.m. in the area of Southeast 15th Avenue and E. Las Olas Boulevard … The Rolls Royce was traveling eastbound on Las Olas when another vehicle opened fire on it, police said … When the Rolls tried to get away, it crashed into the building at 311 Southeast 15th Avenue.”
Ross and a passenger were uninjured, struck neither by gunshots nor in the subsequent car accident. While the affiliate admitted that witnesses pegged one of the car’s occupants as Ross, the network added that names were being withheld from the media officially “because they’re in fear for their lives, police said.”
Local10 also indicated Ross was in the crashed Rolls Royce and was ostensibly the target for the shooting, reporting from two local witnesses:
“An employee at the Floridian diner, however, told Local 10 that rapper Rick Ross and a woman were in the Rolls Royce. That employee said Ross was shaken up after the drive by shooting … The owner of another nearby business also said it was Ross. He said the rapper recently bought a house in the area.”
The Rolls Royce drive-by isn’t Rick Ross’ first brush with threats and violence , and last year the rapper was forced to cancel several tour dates after fears for his safety arose.
Banged up Rolls in drive-by on Las Olas. Witnesses heard 20+ shots. @ nbc6 twitter.com/BettyNBC6/stat…
— Betty Yu(@BettyNBC6) January 28, 2013