Rapper Drakeo the Ruler was fatally stabbed at the Once Upon a Time in LA concert on Saturday, according to a TMZ report.
Paramedics responded to a reported stabbing around 8:40 p.m. at the Banc of California Stadium in Exposition Park situated on the 3900 block of South Hoover Street, said LA Fire Department public information officer Margaret Stewart, according to the LA Times. One person was transported to a hospital in critical condition.
Multiple sources told TMZ the victim was rapper Drakeo the Ruler and indicated he died from his injuries.
Authorities have not released the identity of the stabbing victim, “But a person with direct knowledge of the incident told The Times that hip-hop artist Drakeo the Ruler was attacked by a group of people at the music festival and critically injured.”
#Sky9 was over Banc of California Stadium where one person was stabbed at the Once Upon A Time In LA music festival. The victim was transported to the hospital, according to LA City Fire Department. pic.twitter.com/3On5Q6JnIm
— CBS Los Angeles (@CBSLA) December 19, 2021
The rapper, whose real name is Darrell Caldwell, was slated to perform at 8:30 on the “G-Funk Stage,” according to the festival’s website. Big names like Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, and Ice Cube were part of the extensive lineup of performers. The concert was scheduled to run from 11:00 a.m.-11:00 p.m. but was cut short after the incident.
A source told the Times that footage recorded in the aftermath of the stabbing showed people running on the stage as security attempted to stop a fight. Caldwell “was backstage when some kind of altercation broke out among several people and he was stabbed, according to the source.”
“There was an altercation in the roadway backstage,” a Live Nation spokesperson said, per the LA Times. “Out of respect for those involved and in coordination with local authorities, artists and organizers decided not to move forward with remaining sets so the festival was ended an hour early.”
By 9:20 p.m., a heavy police presence was observed backstage, the Times reported. At least twenty officers were behind the main stage, which was sealed off with yellow tape.
California Highway Patrol and Los Angeles Police responded to the scene with some donning riot gear, ABC 7 reported.
Bridget Arias, a photographer, told the outlet she was behind the stage observing George Clinton perform around 8:00 p.m. when someone made reference to the stabbing.
“You know everybody is in everybody’s business and one person was like, ‘Oh yeah, ’cause Drakeo got stabbed,'” Arias said. “Then another person confirmed it and then it was kind of like the monkey game where everyone kept repeating a version of what was happening.”
Caldwell was previously “acquitted of felony murder and attempted murder charges, but Los Angeles County prosecutors sought to retry him on conspiracy charges in the slaying,” the LA Times reported. He agreed to a plea deal leading to his release from custody in November 2020.
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