At least 500 people get rowdy during memorial for slain rapper XXXTentacion
LOS ANGELES -- As many as 500 people gathered and blocked a portion of Melrose Avenue during an event for slain rapper XXXTentacion Tuesday night.
A call came in around 7:50 p.m. regarding a rowdy crowd in the area of Melrose and Spaulding avenues. The large crowd mingled in the middle of the street, holding up their phones or candles to honor the 20-year-old rapper who was gunned down in Florida.
Another group formed an X out of candles in the middle of the street. People began moshing and dancing around each other at some points.
Around 9:30 p.m., the crowd appeared to be getting larger and many ran through the street and split off into two groups on either side of the road that was blocked off by police.
"It was really good. Everybody seemed happy and positive and singing along and everything like that. Then it just got way overcrowded," one person said.
People were even getting on the rooftops of some of the shops and jumping off as the crowd below caught them.
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When the crowd appeared to be getting more rowdy, officers dressed in riot gear began moving in and fired pepper balls and rubber bullets to disperse the group. Police said items, such as rocks, were being thrown at them.
"I don't know how they can just bring out the cops. We're just people trying to like remember their favorite artist because people really impact other people by their music. This is how people get through things," another fan said.
According to an Instagram post by users nojumper and adam22, the event was organized by them in the 7600 block of Melrose.
The bulk of the crowd dispersed by 10:30 p.m., authorities said. No injuries nor arrests were reported.
XXXTentacion, whose real name was Jahseh Onfroy, was shot to death Monday in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Authorities said he was leaving RIVA Motorsports when two armed suspects approached him and opened fire.
Onfroy was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The 20-year-old released his debut album last year and his second album "?" was released earlier this year, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
In recent years, he was arrested for robbery, assault and on suspicion of beating a pregnant woman. He was awaiting trial for charges of false imprisonment, witness tampering and battery of that woman before his death.
