Police Investigate Rapper’s Shooting
NEW YORK (AP) – While police investigated whether a feud led to the fatal shooting of hip-hop pioneer Jam Master Jay, friends and family mourned him Thursday and puzzled over the slaying.
“There’s no reason,” said the victim’s teenage son, Jason Mizell Jr. “He didn’t really do anything wrong.”
The 37-year-old rap star, whose real name was Jason Mizell, was shot once in the head at close range with a .40-caliber semiautomatic in the Wednesday night attack on the second floor of his recording studio, police said.
Two witnesses told investigators conflicting stories about the killing, which took place as Mizell played video games in a lounge with a 25-year man, who was shot in the leg.
A woman who was at the studio told police two armed attackers were buzzed into the three-room facility about 7:30 p.m. and opened fire almost immediately. But the wounded man, Uriel Rincon, who was released from a hospital Thursday, told investigators that one masked man opened fire after a struggle, police said.
Police said they recovered two shell casings from the shooting.
“They’re checking out varying theories, including, `Was it the result of a personal feud? Was it linked to this East Coast-West Coast rappers?’ and other possible motives,” a law enforcement source said.
By Thursday evening police had not established a motive or identified any suspects.
Many in the rap industry questioned whether Mizell, known as a family man and social activist, would ever be caught in a violent flare-up.
“Before the media rushes to attribute this to East Coast-West Coast violence, they should examine Run-DMC’s two decades of contributions and Jam Master Jay’s personal character,” said hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, whose brother Joseph founded the group with Mizell and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels.
Bereaved fans outside the crime scene laid flowers, candles, personal notes and an Adidas sneaker ó a reference to the group’s hit song “My Adidas” ó with “R.I.P JMJ” handwritten in marker.
“Whoever did this, they should know that they really just took a piece of history away,” said Nassau Community College student JaCmine Mitchell, 20. “When I was a kid, my mother never sang me lullabies. She sang me Run-DMC.”
Police investigating the shooting discovered what one source described as a “credible threat” against rapper 50 Cent, whose Thursday night show planned for a midtown nightclub was cancelled on their recommendation.
Chris Lighty, 50 Cent’s manager, said he doubted the killing and the reported threat were linked.
“There’s a threat against anyone in this business every day,” he said.
He said he had no idea who would want to harm Mizell.
“This is the worst thing that could happen to a guy that has nothing but kindness to spread,” Lighty said. “He’s an icon in our business. It’s a disaster in our community.”
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