American Young Dolph was shot and killed in his hometown of Memphis on Wednesday, according to several media.
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Three independent unnamed police sources confirm to the local TV channel Fox 13 Memphis that Young Dolph was shot outside the bakery Makeda’s Cookies. This was later officially confirmed.
“My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends,” said Mayor Jim Strickland of Memphis AP.
The rapper, originally named Adolph Robert Thornton, Jr., turned 36 years old.
Wednesday night, there is a large police force at the scene. Photos from the scene abound on Twitter. Police quickly confirmed that a young man was pronounced dead at the scene, but would not confirm the identity until the relatives had been notified.
The owner of the bakery where the shooting took place, Maurice Hill, tells the channel that Young Dolph went into the store to buy biscuits.
His cousin Mareno Myers tells The Daily Memphian that he was at home to visit a cancer-sick aunt and to hand out turkeys to the disadvantaged.
According to eyewitnesses, shots were fired from a car outside the store and through a window – and then hit the rapper. This happened around kl. 13 local time.
Police have not released details about the perpetrator.
Many people have visited the scene, and several of these are dissolved in tears over what has happened. The rapper’s Lamborghini is in the parking lot.
Young Dolph leaves behind a wife, a son and a daughter.
Young Dolph is said to have been a valued icon in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. Every Thanksgiving, he handed out turkeys to the disadvantaged, and he has donated willingly to charity, including to the school he himself was a student at in his time, Hamilton High School.
Young Dolph was originally born in Chicago, but moved with his family to Memphis when he was a baby.
The 36-year-old is said to have been a regular guest at the bakery, where he lost his life on Wednesday. Most recently a week ago, the bakery shared this video of its famous guest:
The artist has been in the firing line before as well. In 2017, Young Dolph was seriously injured after having been hit by several shots. He was in the popular tourist area of Hollywood Boulevard at the time when he ended up in an argument with three other men outside a hotel.
The fans are despairing
Five years have passed since Young Dolph released his debut album “King of Memphis”. Since then, he has released six other albums, most recently last year. According to the AP, three of the albums have been in the top 10 on the Billboard 200.
The star has 4.4 million followers Instagram. Sorrow messages have begun to flow in the comments field under Young Dolph’s very last post five days ago. Many express disbelief over the artist’s passing away.
And watched Twitter many share their grief over the news. American rapper Gucci Mane writes that the news broke his heart:
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