This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

﻿Authorities in Los Angeles have detained a suspect in the shooting death of the rapper Nipsey Hussle.

The Los Angeles police department said on Tuesday it had detained Eric Holder, the 29-year-old suspected of shooting Hussle on Sunday, in Bellflower, a city about 20 miles south-east.

Nipsey Hussle: a hip-hop samaritan who lifted up Los Angeles Read more

Hussle, 33, whose real name is Ermias Asghedom, was shot multiple times in Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon and rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A coroner determined the artist had died of gunshot wounds to the head and torso.

Holder had argued several times Sunday with Hussle while standing outside the rapper’s South Los Angeles clothing store and later returned with a handgun and opened fire, the Los Angeles police chief, Michel Moore, said in a press conference on Tuesday.

The chief did not reveal how the two men were acquainted or offer any details about their dispute, but he said the disagreement between the two men was personal and did not involve gang activity.

At the same news conference, the Los Angeles mayor, Eric Garcetti, announced plans to deploy new resources to try to roll back the violence. Hussle’s killing came amid a spike in gun violence in the area.

The police chief and the president of the city’s police commission had been scheduled to meet with Hussle on Monday to discuss the relationship between the police force and the inner city.

Both Moore and the police commission president, Steve Soboroff, said they were devastated when they learned Hussle had been killed on the eve of their talk.

An emotional Soboroff read from the email Hussle sent asking for the meeting.

“Our goal is to work with the department to help improve communication, relationships and work towards changing the culture and dialogue between LAPD and your city,” the email said.

Tuesday’s arrest follows a tense scene during an impromptu memorial on Monday night in the parking lot where Hussle was shot.

A man brandishing a gun caused a panicked stampede. At least 19 people were injured in the chaos, including two people who were taken to hospitals in critical condition, police said.



“It’s been a tough few days for Los Angeles,” Garcetti said. “Nipsey Hussle was an artist who touched our city and lives.”

Hussle grew up in South Los Angeles and was a member of a street gang during his teenage years.

But he had since become a community organizer. He had recently purchased the strip mall where the shop is located and planned to redevelop it into a mixed-use commercial and residential complex.

The plan was part of Hussle’s broader ambitions to remake the neighborhood where he grew up and attempt to break the cycle of gang life that had lured him in when he was younger.

The rapper sold demos for just a few dollars in those streets before becoming an underground phenomenon for a decade with his much-sought-after mixtapes. Last year he had a mainstream breakthrough with his album Victory Lap, a major label debut that got him a Grammy nomination.

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