Rapper PnB Rock was fatally shot while dining at a Roscoe’s Chicken ‘n Waffles in South Los Angeles on Monday.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the shooting happened at about 1:20 p.m. at the restaurant located on W. Manchester Avenue. They believe it was an attempted robbery of Philadelphia-based rapper PnB Rock, born Rakim Hasheem Allen.
Allen was taken to a hospital following the shooting, where he was later pronounced dead. He was 30 years old. He leaves two daughters behind.
Investigators could be seen scouring both the inside of the restaurant as well as the outside as they continued to survey the area.
They disclosed that the suspect walked through the front doors before directly approaching Allen, who was eating with a woman believed to be his girlfriend. A verbal altercation started just moments before shots were fired and the suspect fled from the scene in a getaway car.
“As they were eating, at least one suspect approached them with a firearm and demanded the victim’s property,” said LAPD Captain Kelly Muniz. “There was some sort of verbal exchange at this point, we were not able to get audio in the investigation. Then, the suspect shot the victim several times. The victim then fell to the ground and the suspect removed some items from the victim.”
A Roscoe’s employee said that he heard the shots and rushed to try and help.
“I ran in to see what was going on and the dude was shot like three times in the chest,” he said. “I start applying pressure on the hole that was closer to where i thought would kill him. I did the one on the chest.”
There was no information on a suspect or the vehicle used immediately available.
Fans of PnB Rock began to arrive at the scene after police cleared the investigation area to pay their respects, leaving flowers and messages.
They told CBS reporters that they knew PnB Rock was in the area due to a since-deleted Instagram post made by his girlfriend, which included a geotag of their location.
DJ Akademiks, who hosts a podcast called “Off the Record,” said that he had recently interviewed PnB Rock, where he detailed a separate failed robbery attempt in Los Angeles.
Rapper Nicki Minaj tweeted her thoughts on the incident, saying “After Pop Smoke there’s no way we as rappers or our loved ones are still posting locations to our whereabouts. To show waffles & some fried chicken????! He was such a pleasure to work with. Condolences to his mom & family. This makes me feel so sick. Jesus. #SIP #PnbRock.”
A number of fellow performers who had worked with Rock in the past, tweeted their condolences as well, including Russ, Quavo, Juicy J and Asian Doll.
PnB Rock released two studio albums, one EP and five mixtapes after beginning his rap career in 2014. His song “Selfish,” was triple-platinum certified by the Recording Industry Association of America. He had songs with other notable musicians like Wiz Khalifa, Lil Wayne, Ed Sheeran, Chance the Rapper, Young Thug and 2 Chainz, among others.
In 2020 he released a song with rapper Pop Smoke, who was fatally shot while staying at a rental property in Hollywood Hills. He was also featured on a number of posthumously-released XXXTentacion songs in 2019, who was shot and killed during a robbery in Deerfield Beach, Florida in 2018.
LA native and actor Danny Trejo shared a photo of he and PnB Rock after hearing news of the shooting.
