A man was injured in a shooting near the memorial site for rapper Young Dolph on Thursday, just one day after the artist was gunned down at a well-known Tennessee bakery.
The Memphis Police Department said the man was shot in the 2600 block of Airways Boulevard and was listed as “non-critical." The victim was not identified.
The violence unfolded as mourners gathered Thursday around Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies, the site where the 36-year-old rapper, whose name was Adolph Thornton Jr., was killed Wednesday. The store is in the 2300 block of Airways Boulevard.
Three people were arrested in connection with the Thursday shooting. While two of them were captured immediately, the third person was detained after a brief pursuit, Memphis Police said. Their names have not been released.
It is not clear if the two shootings are connected. Both remain under investigation.
No arrests have been made so far in the rapper’s death.
Young Dolph, who was in Memphis for his annual Thanksgiving giveaway, was on his way to hand out turkeys when he stopped at the bakery, his attorney, Scott Hall, said.
Police were called to the bakery, located southeast of downtown Memphis, at 12:24 p.m. Wednesday, Chief CJ Davis said in a statement Wednesday.
“The shooting is another example of the senseless gun violence we are experiencing locally and nationwide,” she said. “Our hearts go out to the Thornton family and all who are affected by this horrific act of violence.”
She said that a motive wasn’t clear and that investigators were gathering details from witnesses to try to identify the shooter or shooters.
On Thursday, police shared photos of two people they are seeking in connection with the Wednesday shooting. They were recorded on security cameras.
Police said the surveillance footage shows the pair exit a white two-door Mercedes Benz armed with guns. They approach the rapper inside the business and shoot him several times before fleeing the scene. The investigation is ongoing.
Also on Thursday, Young Dolph's longtime partner, Mia Jaye, spoke out for the first time.
Jaye, who is also the mother of his two children, talked about his death in a series of Instagram stories.
In a video showing Young Dolph exercising with their daughter, Jaye wrote: “Question is... How am I going to tell to my babies that daddy is never coming home?”
“God give me strength,” she wrote in another post. “Adolph I love you with all my heart and soul.”
Jaye thanked everyone for their prayers and messages of support.
“I may not see them all but when my eyes are not full of tears, I catch a few,” she added in a different post. “Nonetheless, all the genuine positive vibes, energy and prayers are welcome... because Lord knows I need them.”
The Commercial Appeal reported that Young Dolph had been the victim of two other shootings.
In February 2017, in Charlotte, North Carolina, he was in a vehicle when a person fired more than 100 rounds at the heavily armored SUV he was in, which he credited with saving his life.
Later that year, Young Dolph was critically injured when he was shot multiple times outside a hotel in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles. He made a full recovery, the newspaper reported.
Variety reported that he was the cousin of the Chicago rapper Juice Wrld, who died of a drug overdose at Midway International Airport in 2019.
Memphis police say tips can be made to its homicide unit at 901-636-3300 or to Crime Stoppers at 901-528-CASH. There is a cash reward for information leading to the identification and arrest of suspects, police say.
