Rapper Foolio shot and killed while celebrating 26th birthday in Tampa, Florida
Rapper Foolio has been shot and killed while celebrating his 26th birthday in Tampa, Florida.
The musician, whose real name was Charles Jones, was pronounced dead after police were called to a Holiday Inn in the early hours of Sunday morning, according to Sky News’ US partner NBC News.
Foolio was reportedly inside a vehicle in the hotel’s car park when he was shot during an “ambush”, his lawyer Lewis Fusco said.
Another vehicle nearby was also hit.
Three other victims were taken to hospital and are all said to be in a stable condition.
Police are still investigating the motive and working to identify those involved.
The night he died Jones was celebrating his 26th birthday, Mr Fusco confirmed.
Jones had earlier shared footage of his partying on his social media accounts, including on Instagram, where he had one million followers.
He uploaded an invitation to a pool party on Saturday evening and told his followers to directly message him for the address.
Later that night, he posted that police had “shut us down and kicked us out” of their Airbnb.
His lawyer said in a statement that Jones then relocated to the Holiday Inn where the attack took place.
The scene of the shooting. Pic: NBC
Just a few hours before the shooting, Jones wrote: “Best birthday everrrr. Appreciate everybody who pulled up we turnt up till we couldn’t nomo.
“We otw to the show now yall pull-up.”
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In April, when announcing the release of his latest album Resurrection, Jones posted that he had already survived “multiple attempts” on his life.
The rapper, who had nearly one million monthly listeners on Spotify at the time of the shooting, had been making music since 2015.
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Mr Fusco described him as “a kid who grew up in challenging circumstances, determined to defy the odds by any means possible and succeed in all that he did”.
He added that Jones “became someone I deeply respected for his authenticity and I considered a friend”.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
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