(WPLG/RNN) – XXXTentacion, a wildly popular 20-year-old rapper, was reportedly shot and killed in South Florida on Monday, the Broward County Sheriff's Office said.
The shooting took place in Deerfield Beach, about an hour north of Miami.
TMZ reported he was in the area shopping for motorcycles when a gunman approached his car and shot him.
The adult male victim has been confirmed as 20 year old Jahseh Onfroy aka rapper #XXXTentacion.
— Broward Sheriff (@browardsheriff) June 18, 2018
TMZ reported that the 20-year-old rapper was leaving a motorcycle dealership when he was shot. Cellphone video taken at the scene shows the unconscious rapper in the driver's seat of his car after the shooting.
According to dispatch audio, the incident was a possible drive-by shooting and the shooter or shooters apparently fled the scene in a black Dodge Journey.
A motive for the shooting remains unclear.
According to Miami-Dade Department of Corrections officials, Onfroy was on house arrest until March 21.
He has had numerous arrests in South Florida, beginning when he was a juvenile and he is currently awaiting trial for a domestic violence incident involving his pregnant girlfriend.
Despite his legal troubles, XXX has found success in the entertainment industry with his last album debuting at #1.
Real name Jahseh Onfroy, he only released a debut album, “17,” in August, and followed up with “?” in March. The latter debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart.
His single “SAD!” had been listened to more than 173 million times on YouTube, and reached the top-10 of the Billboard Hot 100 list.
He was considered a genre-bending artist, who cited a variety of influences that ranged from Tupac Shakur to Coldplay.
“I’m really into multi-genre things that aren’t just based around rapping itself,” he once told XXL Magazine. “I’m more inspired by artists in other genres besides rap.”
He had been in South Florida "planning a charity event for this weekend" according to a post on his Instagram account shortly before his death.
In a darkly foreboding social media livestream before the shooting, he considered his own mortality and spoke about what he hoped his legacy would be.
“I at least want to know that the kids perceived my message and were able to make something of themselves and able to take my message and use it and turn it into something positive and to at least have a good life,” he said. “If I’m going to die or ever be a sacrifice I want to make sure that my life made at least 5 million kids happy.”
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