Jacksonville rapper Foolio, whose real name is Charles Jones, was shot and killed Sunday morning in Tampa, his lawyer confirmed.
Police were called to a hotel in uptown Tampa a few hours before sunrise, having received reports of a shooting at the address. Upon arriving at the scene, they found two vehicles that had been shot at in the parking lot.
One person, now identified as Jones, was pronounced dead, according to the Tampa Police Department. Three additional victims are in stable condition and being treated at the hospital.
Police said officers are still investigating the motive for the shooting and working to identify individuals involved.
Jones was celebrating his birthday the night of his fatal shooting, according to footage he posted on his Instagram story. The 26-year-old rapper, who had 1 million followers on the platform, shared a video advertising a pool party Saturday evening. He told his followers to direct-message him for the address.
Later that night, he posted that police had “shut us down and kicked us out” of their Airbnb.
His lawyer Lewis Fusco wrote in a statement that Jones then relocated to a Holiday Inn, where he was reportedly ambushed in the parking lot.
“Best birthday everrrr 🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞 appreciate everybody who pulled up we turnt up till we couldn’t nomo,” Jones wrote in another Instagram story just a few hours before the shooting. “We otw to the show now yall pull-up.”
In April, when announcing the release of his latest album, “Resurrection,” Jones also posted that he had already survived “MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS ON MY LIFE.”
Jones, who had nearly 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify at the time of his shooting, had been making music since 2015.
