Rapper PnB Rock fatally shot during robbery at South LA restaurant: Sources
Rapper PnB Rock, an up-and-coming hip-hop artist from Philadelphia, was fatally shot Monday afternoon during a robbery at Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles in South Los Angeles, police sources told ABC News. He was 30 years old.
Although the Los Angeles Police Department did not officially name the victim, sources at the LAPD told ABC News on Monday evening that the rapper, whose legal name is Rakim Hasheem Allen, was the victim seen in social media videos of the incident captured by witnesses.
The rapper was at the South LA eatery with his girlfriend and according to social media posts, their location was reportedly shared on social media in since-deleted messages.
Police said they received a call about a shooting at 1:23 p.m. ET and found a male victim with gunshot wounds. He was transported to an area hospital. According to the LAPD, the victim and a woman were eating in the restaurant when they were approached by at least one suspect who pulled a firearm demanding property. The suspect shot the victim multiple times, removed property and left in a getaway car, according to police.
"What occurred was the victim, along with a female witness, were in this area eating at a restaurant when they were approached by at least one suspect, who brandished a firearm and demanded property from the victim," LAPD Capt. Kelly Muniz said during a Monday afternoon press conference. "The suspect then shot the victim multiple times, and removed property and then left the location in a getaway car."
Muniz said that multiple shots were fired, and that others on the scene were not injured.
When asked about reports that Allen's location was shared on social media ahead of the robbery, Muniz said, "We always are gonna look into the social media," but added that police couldn't "verify" that yet.
LAPD detectives are aware of a social media post where his location was tagged, sources told ABC News and police said they are examining surveillance video to identify potential suspects.
The rapper reflected on previous robbery attempts that he experienced in Los Angeles during a Sept. 2 interview on the podcast "Off the Record with DJ Akademiks."
Allen said that he was targeted while he was out with his girlfriend and their daughter.
"Somebody shot me on Fairfax, like, mid-pandemic," he said.
Asked by host DJ Akademiks if they were trying to take his jewelry, Allen said, "I don't know," but noted the boldness of robbery attempts in the city.
"Where I'm from, we like sneaky criminals," he said. "In L.A. it's like they bold."
"I flagged him off and I walked out the store," he said, reflecting on how he tried to diffuse the situation.
Asked if he was nervous, Allen said that he tries to "be cool" because he was with his family.
"You want to be as calm as possible," he said.
Allen and DJ Akademiks, whose legal name is Livingston Allen, noted that rappers often get targeted in robberies, especially for their jewelry.
"I never got robbed, ever in my life," Allen said. "I ain't gonna say never because I don't like saying never. I'm not superstitious or nothing like that, but I haven't been robbed."
"That's why I feel like L.A.'s spooky, man," Akademiks said. "It's just so bold."
"Broad daylight, that's when they really do it," he added.
"It's just a new generation. Everybody is on some demon s--," Allen said.
Although it is unclear whether the suspect or suspects in the case were aware of the rapper's location ahead of time, his killing launched a conversation about the dangers of tagging locations on social media.
Fans reflected on other robberies where celebrities were targeted after sharing their locations, including Kim Kardashian who was robbed in Paris in 2016 and the late rapper Pop Smoke, who was killed in Feb. 2020 in an attempted robbery at his Hollywood Hills home after he shared his location.
Allen, an independent artist, gained popularity on SoundCloud and released a number of hits that charted on the Billboard Hot 100. He was featured in XXL Magazine's Freshman Class of rappers to watch in 2017.
He is known for songs like "Selfish" and "Cross Me," featuring Chance the Rapper, which have hundreds of millions of streams on Spotify. He released his latest single, "Luv Me Again," on Sept. 2.
ABC News' Alex Stone and Marilyn Heck contributed to this report.
