Rapper Dolla Killed at Los Angeles Mall

Rapper Dolla was the victim of a fatal shooting that occurred in Los Angeles on Monday afternoon.

The shooting took place after 3 p.m. in the valet waiting area at the Beverly Center shopping mall on La Cienega Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Times.

An employee at a nearby Chipotle witnessed the dispute. “He saw a lady … shooting a handgun,” said Elsa Hernandez, general manager of the restaurant. “The customers were yelling, ‘Close the store, close the store, because somebody is shooting.'”

Police have arrested one “person of interest” in connection with the shooting, but were looking for a second suspect. The arrested suspect fled from the scene in a silver Mercedes SUV and was later detained at LAX airport while trying to board a flight.

The 21-year-old rapper, born Roderick Anthony Burton II, was signed to Akon’s KonLive imprint through Jive Records. He told Rap-Up about his harsh upbringing in an article that appeared in the magazine last year. He was born into death when his twin died at birth, he witnessed his father commit suicide, his sister is incarcerated, and he had been shot previously. His single, “Who the F*** Is That?” featuring T-Pain, was released in late 2007.

Dolla started updating his Twitter page today, a few hours before he was fatally wounded. “Checc my page out too, www.myspace.com/dolla,” he wrote in what would be his final entry.

UPDATE: Dolla’s publicist has confirmed his death. She said the Atlanta-based MC was shot in the head around 3:10 p.m. while he and another rapper, DJ Shabazz, waited in the valet area after shopping at the mall. A friend who was with him at the Beverly Center also confirmed his identity to the L.A. Times.