Lil Baby Memphis Show Stopped, Venue Evacuated After Man Shot, Critically Wounded
A man was shot and critically wounded during a Lil Baby show at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, TN on Thursday night (Sept. 7) according to an Associated Press report. According to a statement posted by the Memphis Police Department, officers responded to reports of a shooting at the venue at 10:23 p.m., with “one adult male shooting victim [was] located and transported to Regional One Health in critical condition.”
At the time of the tweet from the Memphis PD, the identity of the shooter was unknown and no other injuries were reported in the incident during Baby’s It’s Only Us tour, which also features The Kid Laroi and Glorilla. At press time a spokesperson for Lil Baby had not returned Billboard‘s request for additional comment on the shooting.
The venue released a statement on the shooting, saying, “A person was shot tonight at FedExForum during the Lil Baby concert. The incident is under investigation and we are fully cooperating with the Memphis Police Department.”
WREG 3 reported that Baby (born Dominique Armani Jones), 28, was performing and had to be rushed off the stage after the shots were fired in the venue. “I heard a pop,” concert attendee Clarissa Johnson told the station. “I’m not sure what happened but I had a suite, so I told all my crew, ‘get down.’ So we evacuated. Once we evacuated, did a head count. I’m still not sure what happened. It’s not so sweet tonight, though.”
Memphis Police said the shooting took place on the first floor of the 19,000-seat arena that is home to the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies; concertgoers reportedly told WREG that the shots were fired during the first 30 minutes of Baby’s headlining set, after which the venue was evacuated. MPD public information officer Sgt. Louis Brownlee told the Commercial Appeal that it was unknown if the shooter and victim knew each other, how many times the victim was shot or how many shots were fired.
Brownlee also said it was not clear how the firearm got into the venue; the venue requires concert attendees to go through a metal detector while entering.
Baby was scheduled to play the KFC YUM! Center in Louisville, KY on Friday night (Sept. 8), but the venue announced that the gig had been cancelled with no explanation, with refunds available at point of purchase. At press time it appeared the rapper’s show at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Saturday night (Sept. 9) would go on as scheduled.
See the Memphis PD statement below.
Gil Kaufman
Billboard
