‘His dreams went into being a rapper’: Man, 21, fatally shot in hallway of Bronx apartment building frequented by addicts
A 21-year-old neighborhood rapper was killed and another man was wounded in a shooting early Wednesday inside a Bronx apartment building frequented by drug users, police and neighbors said.
The two victims were hanging out in the third-floor hallway of the building on Featherbed Lane near Macombs Road in Morris Heights when the shooter opened fire around 4:50 a.m., cops said.
The gunfire woke up tenants in the six-story building.
“Around 4:45 or so, I got up and I heard like four shots,” recalled Simone Rose, a second-floor resident who initially did not know two people had been shot. “I was so surprised. I said to my son, ‘Did you hear that?’ But he was half asleep.”
The 21-year-old, identified by friends as a neighborhood rapper named Jason, was shot in the head, and the other victim, a 61-year-old man, was struck in the stomach, said cops.
EMS rushed the younger man to BronxCare Health System but he could not be saved. The older victim was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital where he was in stable condition.
The two victims do not appear to be related, police said.
Neighbors said Jason lived with his mother across the street from the shooting scene.
Friends of Jason — whose nickname was J.J. — lit votive candles in his honor at a makeshift memorial wreathed with black and red balloons Wednesday. Two yellow balloons that read “J.J.” swayed in the afternoon breeze.
Jason was a high school athlete who excelled at football and basketball and was trying to break into the rap world under his stage name “Priceless,” friends said.
“He was a very lovely man, he was well known and caring,” said neighbor Hazel Marie, 31. “He had a bright smile. His passion was music. That was his main focus.”
Jason had a 4-year-old son, a friend setting up the memorial said.
“He was a loving brother, father, artist and entertainer,” the friend said. “His dreams went into being a rapper.”
The gunman ran off and is still on the loose. Hours later, cops scoured the area seeking security footage that could help the identify the shooter.
Police say that the apartment building is frequented by drug users and squatters. Residents say addicts usually congregate across the street.
“I’m shaken, I’m really really shaken. You can’t use the elevator. it’s just so shocking,” said Rose, 47. “I feel like I have to move because I can’t raise my kids here.”
