Kodak Black, the rapper whose legal name is Bill Kapri, was among four people shot early Saturday outside a restaurant in Los Angeles, four law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation told NBC News.
The 24-year-old Florida rapper and three others were shot; two were taken by ambulance and two self-transported to a hospital, the Los Angeles Police Department said. All are in stable condition.
Police responded to gunfire around 2:45 a.m. in the 400 block of North La Cienega Boulevard.
Though it was not immediately clear what sparked the fight outside the club, an LAPD spokesman said the victims were shot when they emerged from the building.
Bradford Cohen, an attorney for Black, told NBC News Monday the shooting starting with an “unprovoked attack” on an individual Kodak was with. When the rapper and security came to that person’s aid, “several shots were fired at them by an unidentified assailant.”
Kodak was struck in the leg and is in stable condition, expected to make a full recovery, Cohen said.
Cohen said the attack was caught on video. The investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
The LAPD said in a press release Saturday they are searching for a black male suspect who fled south from the location.
KNBC anchor/reporter Robert Kovacik reported that the scuffle occurred outside of Nice Guy, an Italian restaurant. Nice Guy owner John Terzian confirmed to NBC News that Justin Bieber was hosting an after party inside the restaurant on the night of the shooting.
According to footage of the shooting obtained by TMZ, Kodak Black was leaving the restaurant with an entourage that included friend and rapper Gunna. In the footage, they paused to pose for photos with fans.
Surrounded by over a dozen paparazzi, a confused fistfight amongst a group of men standing around a red Ferrari in the street spills back onto the sidewalk and is then interrupted by 10 gunshots that send the crowd running for their lives.
Kapri was originally born Dieuson Octave and, the AP reported, had by age 21 amassed an extensive rap sheet. Kapri was sentenced to prison in 2019 for weapons possession and was pardoned in 2021 by former president Donald J. Trump.
