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Rapper Half Ounce Shot, Killed In Los Angeles While On Phone With Pregnant Wife
The 33-year-old rapper and reported UPS employee, whose given name was Latauriisha O’Brien, was killed on Oct. 3 while walking on the street and talking to his pregnant wife.
An up-and-coming rapper in Los Angeles was shot dead while walking with a friend earlier this week, according to police and news reports.
Half Ounce, a 33-year-old Inglewood-based rapper and reported UPS employee whose given name is Latauriisha O'Brien, was shot multiple times in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Koreatown on Monday, Oct. 3 around 11:30 p.m., according to a press release from the LAPD and Los Angeles ABC affiliate KABC.
Officers who responded to a 911 call about multiple gunshots and a man screaming found O'Brien lying in a planter and he was pronounced dead at the scene. A witness told local news station KTLA that he heard "seven, eight shots back to back" and then saw multiple people fleeing the scene. A vehicle was reportedly shot in the incident.
LAPD Lt. John Radtke told reporters that O'Brien and a friend were walking in the neighborhood when a dark-colored SUV pulled up, according to L.A. Fox affiliate KTTV and KTLA. The passenger — whom the LAPD described as a Black man in dark clothing — got out and began shooting at O'Brien and the as-yet unidentified friend, CBS News reported. The friend fled and police say the shooter got back in the SUV and drove off.
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O'Brien's wife was on the phone with him at the time of the shooting, CBS News reported, and arrived at the scene after police. She reportedly identified the body and told police that her husband was walking back from a UPS shift when he was accosted. (There is a large UPS warehouse facility just under two miles from where his body was found.)
O'Brien was the father of three children — an 8-year-old daughter, a 2-year-old son and a 9-month-old son — according to KTTV, and his wife is pregnant with his fourth child.
His mother told KTLA that he'd started rapping at age 9, but worked at UPS to support his growing family while also studying heating and air conditioning at the for-profit trade school, UEI College, in the hopes of opening his own business.
The Los Angeles Times reported that O'Brien was linked to the Piru gang — which is affiliated with the Bloods — and had a criminal history that included several stints in county jail. County jail records reviewed by Oxygen.com indicate that he was most recently arrested on a Friday night in August and bailed out the following Monday. He had a court date on Sept. 8.
Police are still searching for the friend who was reportedly walking with him at the time of the shooting, and are seeking security camera footage from any homes or businesses in the area.
They are asking anyone with information on the shooting to contact the LAPDWest Bureau Homicide investigators at (213) 382-9470. or 1-877-LAPD-24-7. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call the L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477), go to the website www.lacrimestoppers.org, use the "Anonymous Web Tips" menu at www.lapdonline.org or download the “P3 Tips” mobile app.
