A$AP Rocky Charged With Assault Over 2021 Shooting Case

August 16, 2022 E Jazz Reporter

The rapper faces two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm with allegations of personally using a firearm.

ASAP Rocky in the front row at Loewe show, Spring Summer 2020, Paris Fashion Week, on September 27, 2019 in Paris, France.

Swan Gallet/WWD

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced on Monday (Aug. 15) that A$AP Rocky has been charged in connection to an alleged shooting in Los Angeles in November 2021.

The rapper, born Rakim Mayers, faces two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm with allegations of personally using a firearm. “Discharging a gun in a public place is a serious offense that could have ended with tragic consequences not only for the person targeted but also for innocent bystanders visiting Hollywood,” Gascón said in a news release. “My office conducted a thorough review of the evidence in this case and determined that the addition of a special firearm allegation was warranted.”

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The rapper is set to be arraigned on Wednesday (Aug. 17).

Rocky was detained in connection with an investigation by the LAPD into a non-fatal shooting in Hollywood on Nov. 6 and released on $550,000 bond. An argument escalated between the rapper and his acquaintance, leading to Rocky allegedly firing a semi-automatic handgun. The victim sustained a minor injury, according to KTLA.

At the time of the arrest, Rocky was in the process of returning to Los Angeles on a private plane after a vacation in Barbados with Rihanna, according to reports by NBC News and this publication.

In 2019, Rocky was arrested and charged with assault in Sweden, with prosecutors alleging that the victim was punched, kicked and attacked with a bottle. He spent nearly five weeks in behind bars before being released, though he was later found guilty.

The rapper and Rihanna welcomed their first child together, a boy, on May 13. The pair started dating in 2020, and the “Umbrella” singer announced her pregnancy in January.

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