Young Dolph shot and killed at 36: rapper pronounced dead after being hit in gunfire at Makeda’s Cookies in Memphis
YOUNG Dolph has reportedly been shot dead while buying cookies in Memphis on Wednesday afternoon.
The artist, real name Adolph Robert Thornton Jr, was fatally shot at Makeda's Cookies.
The owner then claimed that someone drove up and shot and killed the rapper at roughly 1pm. He also told that the star was hit while he was buying cookies.
Fox also reports that three law enforcement officers confirmed the young rapper's death.
The artist was reportedly not alone when he was shot, the outlet reports, however it is not clear who he was with or if they were hurt.
The owner of local store Comfort Coin-Operated Laundry told The Sun: "My worker who was here hit the floor when she heard the gunshots.
"We're closing up real soon. Everything is shut down. The street in front of the store and all the side streets are blocked off because people are coming over here to see what happened."
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A local reporter at the scene showed cops in bullet-proof vests outside of the store taping off the area.
According to the rapper's cousin, Mareno Meyers, he had been out of town since Monday to visit his aunt who has cancer.
He was known well in the area for handing out turkeys around and donating money to his former high school.
FANS MOURN THE LOSS
The star has accumulated over 4.4million followers on Instagram, a platform that several social media users flooded to share their condolences.
"They saying you dead I hope not," one user wrote, while another said "Damn rip."
"Please don't leave us," another wrote. "News better be fake."
The artist was related to late rapper Juice WRLD, who passed away following an accidental overdose.
Following his death, Young Dolph posted a tribute saying: "damn lil cuzz. i feel awkward as hell makin this post on social media the world didn't know u was my blood lil cuzin."
Dolph leaves behind his two children, a daughter and a son, that he reportedly shares with Mia Jayes.
His baby mama posted in August 2021 about how "Why do Black men deserve to grow old?"
The post read, "Because it is their Birthright! When God created each individual, he assigned them a task to fulfill and when these men are taken from this world prematurely, that Task… Purpose… Assignment may be left undone."
TARGETED SINCE HIS TEENAGE YEARS
The 36-year-old rapper previously spoke about his belief that he has been a target of violence since his teenage years.
The rapper admitted that he did not grow up in the best surroundings, which caused him to turn to certain methods to make money.
When asked how, he responded: "Hustling – you’ve been seeing it for so long that you start to partake in it. I clocked in when I was 12 and never clocked out."
He further explained how his surroundings had an influence on him around that time.
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"Even when leaving school, you either had to go up past the two stores and the corner, where everything is going on, or walk up this long ass boring street up the hill to go home.
"We wanted to go past where the action is. We were in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades, seeing this living hell."
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