1 dead in shootout involving rapper T.I.
Three others wounded after rap concert, party
BY EILEEN KELLEY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
ROSELAWN – One person is dead and three were injured in a shoot-out on Interstate 75 early Wednesday following an after-hours party featuring two rap groups including well-known rapper T.I.
Witnesses told police the trouble started with a verbal altercation and possible scuffle inside the Club Ritz, on Seymour Avenue in Roselawn.
The nightclub hosted an after-hours party for Atlanta-area rappers T.I. and Yung Joc, who had performed at Bogart’s on Tuesday night.
Clifford Harris, whose stage name is T.I., has been a Billboard success story with his latest album selling more than half a million copies in its first week. He has earned rave reviews for his performances on stage and film. Yung Joc is a fellow southern protégé and is signed to the T.I.’s Grand Hustle record label.
About three miles of the southbound lanes of I-75– from the just south of Galbraith Road to Paddock Road -- were closed for seven hours after the 3 a.m. shootings, causing major backups for motorists. The highway reopened about 10:15 a.m.
Witnesses told the Enquirer the problem started when a large group of men at the night club became upset after money was being thrown from the stage by one member a rapper’s entourage.
“It was supposed to be for the ladies,” said one witness, who asked not to be named. “But it (the money) was hitting the guys in the face and they were like, ‘We got money’ so why are you throwing money at us?’”
The tension mounted and moved outside, where the witness said T.I. was trying to get his group packed up in their vans.
“T.I. was telling his boys, ‘Come on let’s go. Let’s Go.’ And the Cincinnati boys were like, ‘Yea, let’s go.’”
The witness said about four people – believed to be from Cincinnati -- followed the rappers’ vans in a large vehicle, possibly a GMC Tahoe.
The witness said one shot was fired in the parking lot, but he did not think it was related to the tension.
“They were just showing off,” the witness said.
The names and conditions of those shot were not available. They were all taken to University Hospital.
Although police did confirm that the dead person was part of the T.I.’s entourage, they say T.I. was not injured.
Two vans belonging to T.I. were found on the I-75. One victim was from one van. Three people in the other van were shot.
The wounded included one woman. A man, believed to be a victim, was escorted out of University Hospital before 7 a.m. by a police officer. The man had bandages on his arm.
The Club Ritz has been a site of controversy.
Community members and police asked the Cincinnati City Council to shut down the club last year, but a majority of council members voted to let the bar keep its liquor license. Two months after that – last June – three people were shot outside the club after a fight spilled outside.
The shooting raised the ire of Councilmen Chris Monzel and his staff.
“Councilman Monzel is one of the people who voted to remove the liquor license of that problem plagued establishment,” said Monzel’s chief of staff Brad Beckett. “It’s just a bad scene up there. You should expect to drive safely down 75.”
The owner of the Roselawn club, Andrew Williams, said last June the bar was closing until he and other workers could resolve problems with security – including guaranteeing having plenty of paid police and security officers on hand. Williams also said he would stop keeping the bar open after hours and promised to put up barricades around the parking lot to control traffic.
The witness at Club Ritz said there were plenty of law enforcement officers at the club late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
Many police were stationed around the area of Short Vine as the concert let out around 11 p.m. and there did not appear to be any problems, dispatchers said.
Police are asking anyone with information about the shootings to come forward.
“We need the eyes and the ears of the people,” said Lt. Tom Lanter. “We can only do so much without the cooperation of the community.”
