Nipsey Hussle murder case: Struggle over handgun sparked stampede at memorial vigil, police chief says
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- As the search continued Tuesday for the 29-year-old man suspected of shooting and killing Nipsey Hussle in South Los Angeles, the city's mayor and police chief discussed at a news conference the impact of the rapper's death and provided new details of the murder investigation.
Addressing a crush of reporters at LAPD headquarters, police Chief Michel Moore called for suspect Eric Holder to turn himself in and described the circumstances that triggered a stampede at a memorial candlelight vigil Monday night.
According to Moore, a person in the crowd tried to disarm an individual who had brandished a handgun. A struggle ensued, and bystanders began running in an attempt to find safety. An LAPD commander who was positioned nearby said no gunfire occurred.
Moore also discussed a recent broader surge in violent crime in the city, but emphasized that investigators believe the shooting that claimed Hussle's life was the result of a personal dispute and not gang-related.
MORE: Police identify suspect in Nipsey Hussle shooting
Moore and police commission President Steve Soboroff had planned to meet with Hussle, who joined the Rollin 60s Neighborhood Crips gang as a teenager, before the hip-hop artist's untimely demise. They had intended to discuss preventing gang violence.
Soboroff read from the email Hussle had sent requesting the meeting. The commissioner expressed the shock he felt when he first heard the news of the rapper's death, and vowed to hold the meeting with members of Hussle's family and officials from the entertainment company Roc Nation.
Mayor Eric Garcetti described Hussle as a "tireless advocate" for his community whose "impact on our city was deep."
"We have a reason to feel hopeful, even in the moments of our most extreme pain,'' Garcetti said. "And that's by turning to each other. We saw that, and we've seen that, since Nipsey was taken from us. That love that is out there, and I ask everybody who is grieving for him to grieve for the families of those other victims as well whose lives were just as important and just as significant."
According to the LAPD, Holder is believed to have killed Hussle and wounded two others on Sunday afternoon. The suspect allegedly fled the scene in a white 2016 Chevy Cruze with California license plate 7RJD742, with an unidentified woman as the getaway driver.
Meanwhile, a cleanup operation continued at the scene of the vigil, where chaos erupted and left at least 19 people injured. Two were transported to hospitals in critical condition, including one person who was struck by a vehicle.
Dozens of LAPD officers cleared the area near a massive makeshift memorial at Slauson Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard after the altercation that triggered the stampede.
Unfounded reports initially indicated that a shooting had sparked the panic outside Hussle's The Marathon clothing store.
Anyone with information about the case or Holder's whereabouts is asked to call the LAPD's South Bureau Criminal Gang Homicide Division at (213) 485-4341.
