MIAMI – Death Row Records CEO Marion “Suge’ Knight was in intensive care at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach on Sunday afternoon following surgery to remove a bullet from his leg and repair a fractured bone.
Knight was shot in the leg while partying in the exclusive Red Room at the rear of the Shore Club at 12:30 a.m. Sunday. Knight was among an exclusive group that included rapper Kanye West attending an invitation-only party in advance of Sunday night’s MTV Video Music Awards.
Police have made no arrests and have no suspects. Miami Beach Police spokesman Bobby Hernandez said the investigation was being hampered by witnesses’ unwillingness to talk.
“Not everyone has been cooperating with us,” he said. “We don’t have any physical description. We don’t know how many subjects were involved, which is mind boggling, with all those people around.”
It was especially frustrating for police because officers arrived almost immediately after the shooting. A Florida Highway Patrol officer working off-duty at the Shore club noticed people running from the Red Room and went to investigate.
“He’s the one who called it in so we were on the scene right away,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez said Knight was not armed and police did not find any weapons on his friends and security employees.
According to several witnesses, Knight was sitting at a table with friends at about 12:30 a.m. when a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt walked up to him and fired at least two shots.
“I was dancing beside him, then I heard a pop that sounded like a champagne bottle had been opened, then I saw his bodyguards throw themselves on him” said Lilo Kinn, a New York-based artist. “It happened so fast, people were in a panic, trying to get out of there.”
A group of friends waiting outside Mount Sinai’s emergency room in the early morning hours Sunday – including rapper Petey Pablo, who recently signed to Knight’s record label Tha Row – said Knight was alert and talkative.
“That bullet is a tribal mark, orientation, something we all gotta get sometimes. Just as long as we don’t die, it’s fine,” Pablo said.
Miami police said security at the AmericanAirlines Arena would be tight for the VMAs, with sweeps for explosives and weapons searches.
“With an event like this, we always have to take precautions,” said police spokesman Delrish Moss. “We’re taking the type of precautions we took last year and it went off without a hitch. We’re confident it will go off without a hitch this year.
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