Rick Ross' Year of Difficult Bawsing continues. Since he was the target of a mysterious drive-by on January 28 in downtown Fort Lauderdale, the hip-hop superstar has found himself in the headlines a lot -- and not for your typical Don-like behavior. Despite the attention, there's been little new detail aired about the would-be Bawse scrubbing.
Maybe in an effort to kick up new leads, last week the Fort Lauderdale Police Department released the preliminary police reports from the incident, offering new answers to some basic Who-What-Where-and-Whens about the shooting. Obviously, we still don't know much about the elusive Why?
Still, the new info fills out the picture of what happened that night on Las Olas Boulevard. And because so much of who the Bawse is comes from his lyrics, we thought we'd use his rhymes to mash-up art and life. Take it from here, Captain:
1. Killers talking 'bout me, it ain't no talk about me/It ain't no walking 'round me, see all these killers around me.
We've finally got an idea about the assailants in the crime. According to two witnesses, a maroon, older four-door BMW pulled next to Ross' Rolls-Royce at the intersection of East Las Olas Boulevard and SE 15th Avenue. This would have been what both vehicles were looking at right before the bullets started flying. Three to four black males were inside the vehicle. They opened fire, and Ross swung his vehicle to the right down 15th before crashing to a stop not far from the intersection.
2. Got my revolver too, I call it Ving Rhames.
Ross was strapped at the time of the incident -- illegally. According to the police report, when cops arrived on the scene, Bawse and his lady -- Shateria Moragne-El -- were standing near the Rolls-Royce. Ross immediately told the police he was armed -- a black and chrome Smith and Wesson 9mm semiautomatic handgun was sitting in his waistband. A check revealed Ross had a suspended conceal carry license at the time.
3. Went and got me a choppa to put it right in ya face/Better blow out your brains before you give me a case/Got the forty by my dick, I keep on pissin' on the hammer/When they talkin' slick I double back with that banana.
Ross actually didn't use said banana. After the initial incident, there was some speculation on whether the Teflon Don fired off a few rounds in self-defense. When police confiscated Ross' pistol, it had not been fired -- 11 bullets were in the magazine, one in the chamber.
4. Benjamins by the pallet, I'm spendin 'em mighty daily/I know I'm under surveillance/I look at it as a talent.
There were a lot of eyes on the crime. In addition to two witnesses, police checked footage from at least 20 surveillance cameras in the area. The initial info says the fleeing BMW sped off down Las Olas, then turned left -- north -- at SE 16th. Nothing shook loose that night from an APB on the car's description.
5. Damn, life so short, fuck it, I don't wanna go to court.
Well, except when he's the victim, it looks like. Both Bawse and his girl "verbally affirmed prosecution in the matter," meaning the street justice might not be the Bawse's preferred route for adjudicating the issue here.
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