Rapper King Von has died in a shooting outside a lounge in Atlanta, Georgia. He was 26.
Von’s friend and fellow musical artist DJ Akademiks, whose name is Livingston Allen, confirmed the rapper’s death on Twitter Friday after speaking to Von’s manager, who he said was hospitalized after surviving the shooting.
“It’s with great sadness that I have to confirm that King Von has passed away,” Allen wrote. “I spoke with his manager who luckily has survived being shot and is currently recovering in the hospital. However, Von manager did confirm that Von was shot and did not make it. RIP King Von.”
Allen added that to his knowledge, Von’s death was not at the hands of the police and that the rapper had been unarmed.
“From my convo with Von manager who survived getting shot, he says it wasn’t the police who killed King Von,” he wrote. “However, he did say Police did engage in a shoot out with other armed individuals who were there. King Von reportedly was unarmed.”
The shooting took place between two groups outside of the Monaco Hookah Lounge in Atlanta at 3 a.m. on Friday, according to the Mirror. TMZ also confirmed the rapper’s death.
“That physical altercation escalated into an exchange of gunfire with those groups,” Atlanta police Deputy Chief Timothy Peek said in a statement, according to Complex. “Two police officers who were working at that particular club, or lounge, noticed the altercation and engaged some of the people involved. There was an exchange of gunfire with police as well.”
Reps for the Atlanta Police Department and the Fulton County Medical Examiner did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s requests for comment Friday.
The Chicago native, whose given name was Dayvon Daquan Bennett, had a thriving rap career with over 3 million current monthly listeners on Spotify as of Friday. His most popular songs include “Took Her to the O,” “Crazy Story, Pt. 3,” and “The Code” featuring Polo G — the latter of which is off of his most recent album, “Welcome to O’Block,” which was released just one week ago on Oct. 30.
