ASAP Rocky was charged with assault with a firearm by the Los Angeles district attorney on Monday in relation to a shooting that occurred in Hollywood in November.
Born, Rakim Mayers, Asap Rocky is accused of using a gun personally on two charges of assault with a semiautomatic weapon. He will be charged in a courtroom in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday.
“Discharging a gun in a public place is a serious offense that could have ended with tragic consequences not only for the person targeted but also for innocent bystanders visiting Hollywood,” said Dist. Atty. George Gascón in announcing the charges. “My office conducted a thorough review of the evidence in this case and determined that the addition of a special firearm allegation was warranted.”
According to Los Angeles Times, Mayers could not immediately be reached for comment.
The rapper allegedly aimed a semiautomatic weapon at the victim, according to the prosecution. Prosecutors claim that during a later altercation between the two parties, he pulled out his semiautomatic handgun and fired twice at the victim. The sufferer just suffered a minor wound.
Terell Ephron, formerly known as ASAP Relli and a Mayers associate, claimed to be the victim and filed a lawsuit against Mayers last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court, accusing him of assault and violence, carelessness, and emotional distress. Ephron formerly belonged to the New York City hip-hop group ASAP Mob, which was established in Harlem in 2006.
The lawsuit claims that after verbally sparring, Mayers “took out a firearm and purposely pointed it in [Ephron’s] direction and fired multiple shots” after the two agreed to meet to discuss their disagreements. The lawsuit claimed that Ephron was “hit by bullet projectile/fragments” and needed medical assistance. It also claimed that a significant amount of the incident was recorded on video.
Following Mayers’ arrest in connection with the shooting, Los Angeles police executed a search warrant at his residence and discovered numerous guns there.
Mayers was detained on April 20 at Los Angeles International Airport after getting off a private plane on his way home from Barbados, according to the authorities. He had been on vacation with singer Rihanna, who had just given birth to their first child, on the island in the Caribbean.
Mayers was detained in relation to the incident on November 6 on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.
Bail of $550,000 has released him.
The rapper, 33, and two companions were earlier found guilty of aggravated assault while travelling to Sweden for a festival performance in the summer of 2019. After hearing testimony concerning a street fight in Stockholm, where the rapper was accused of knocking a man to the ground and then stomping on him, the rapper was found guilty.
Mayers claimed to have been acting in self-defense during his testimony. A judge ruled that the event wasn’t serious enough to warrant prison time.
