Billboard reports that the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is moving the investigation of the shooting of former Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight to its Homicide Bureau, meaning that the incident will be treated as an attempted murder. Despite the investigation, Knight is reportedly refusing to cooperate with police, with TMZ reporting that he is pretending to be sedated and disoriented when confronted with questions about the shooting.
49-year-old Knight was one of three victims of a shooting at a West Hollywood nightclub on early Sunday morning (August 24), the other two being a 19-year-old woman and a 33-year-old man. The incident occurred during a pre-VMA party, which was being thrown at the club by R&B singer Chris Brown in celebration of the release of his new album X. Though some believe that Brown was actually the intended target of the shooting, The Daily News reports that Suge Knight was in fact the intended target.
Knight was reportedly shot six times — five times in the stomach and chest, and once in the arm — and though he is "seriously ill" according to BBC News, he is expected to survive his injuries. The other two victims are also expected to make full recoveries.
Though there are reportedly more updates about the investigation, they are apparently not yet ready for release. No weapon has yet been recovered, and no suspect has yet been placed in custody.
This is not the first time that Knight has been involved in a shooting: he was in the same car as Tupac Shakur the night the rapper was fatally shot in 1996, and also suffered a gunshot wound at another pre-VMA party in 2005.
