Los Angeles Police Chief Michael Moore blames social media for the alarming spike in gun-related deaths in Los Angeles. Moore said 36 people were shot in a “troubling surge” since last Sunday. 10 victims died including beloved West Coast rapper Nipsey Hussle.
Nipsey, 33, was shot multiple times and died outside his clothing store on Slauson Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard on Sunday.
Police say his murder may have been part of a gang initiation. The shooter is probably associated with a gang, a police source told the LA Times.
Nipsey, who was born Ermias Davidson Asghedom, was a devout member of the Rolling 60s Crips street gang, according to his Facebook page.
“Tonight’s homicide in South LA represents the latest loss in a troubling surge in violence,” Moore tweeted on Monday. “Since last Sunday 26 victims have been shot & 10 homicides – that’s 36 families left picking up the pieces. We will work aggressively with our community to quell this senseless loss of life,” he wrote.
On Monday, Moore spoke in Watts and expressed his concern that social media is driving the violence in South Central Los Angeles.
“We see social media driving violence. I’ll just say it,” he said. “It allows an attitude of disrespect and it gets settled on the street. The stuff that is going out is costing people their lives.”
Moore and LA Police Commissioner Steve Soboroff had planned to meet with Nipsey and entertainment company Roc Nation on Monday to discuss “ways he could help stop gang violence.”
The meeting will go on, Soboroff said on Monday. “Many of us will join together to stop whatever caused your, and so many other tragic unnecessary killings,” he said of Nipsey’s murder.
The gunman is still at large.
Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
