Rapper Young Scooter died at a Georgia hospital after allegedly attempting to flee from authorities on Friday, which was his 39th birthday.
Born Kenneth Bailey, Scooter was pronounced dead at Grady Marcus Trauma Center in Atlanta shortly after his encounter with law enforcement, TMZ reported.
An autopsy has not yet been completed and his cause of death remained unclear as of Saturday morning.
Authorities were responding to a 911 call regarding “a dispute with possible gunshots being fired” at an Atlanta home when they crossed paths with the hip-hop artist around 5:30 p.m., according to a preliminary police statement shared on Facebook.
“Once officers arrived they knocked on the door,” Atlanta Police Department Lt. Andrew Smith told 11Alive. “A male opened the door and immediately shut the door on the officers.”
Then, as authorities moved to establish a perimeter, “two males fled out of the rear of the house,” Smith said.
“One male returned back into the house,” he continued. “The other male jumped two fences as he was fleeing. When officers located him on the other side of the fence, he appeared to have suffered an injury to his leg.”
Officers rendered emergency aid, applying a tourniquet on the scene, before Scooter “was transported to the hospital for further treatment,” police said.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Scooter died a short time later. An investigation into the incident is ongoing, but police have said no officers discharged their weapons at any point.
Scooter burst into the music industry in 2012, when he signed with Future’s record label, Freebandz. The following year, he collaborated with Gucci Mane on a mixtape called “Free Bricks 2,” following it up with another mixtape featuring Gucci, Future, YG and Lil Boosie.
In 2018, he landed on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time with a feature on Future and Juice Wrld’s “Jet Lag.” More recently, Scooter released “Trap’s Last Hope,” his 14th project, in March 2024, which featured guest appearances from Future, EST Gee and Peewee Longway.
