Man Shot Outside Drake’s Toronto Home; Drake Not Injured, Police Say

Jem Aswad and Karen Bliss

UPDATED: A man was hospitalized with serious injuries after a shooting outside rapper Drake’s home in Toronto, according to the CBC and Toronto’s CityNews. Paramedics told reporters that the man’s injuries are not considered life-threatening; police confirmed at a press conference Tuesday that a security guard who had been standing outside the building’s gates was the victim.

The shooting took place at around 2:10 a.m. ET near the corner of Bayview and Lawrence Avenues, Toronto police said, noting that the perpetrator was shot by an unidentified gunman and fled the scene in a vehicle; no descriptions of either the suspect or the vehicle were provided. Responding officers found the security guard with serious injuries; he was taken to the nearby Sunnybrook Hospital, where he underwent surgery and remains in serious condition. During the press conference, Toronto Police Inspector Paul Krawczyk said that authorities were in possession of video recordings of the incident but could not comment further.

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Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-2510 or Crime Stoppers.

Police said they could not confirm whether Drake was at the residence at the time of the incident. Contacted by Variety, a spokesperson for Drake had no comment on the situation and referred requests for further information to police.

During the press conference, Inspector Krawczyk was asked whether the shooting was thought to be in connection with the ongoing musical battle between Drake and Kendrick Lamar. The two rappers have been insulting each other in a series of songs with increasingly personal lyrics regarding each others’ families and lifestyles, but without explicit threats of violence. The battle began last fall but has ramped up rapidly in the past week, with the two releasing five songs in three days over the weekend. An aerial photograph of the residence was featured in the artwork for “Not Like Us,” the latest release from Lamar in the series.

“I am aware of what you’re talking about, but it is so early in the investigation that we don’t have a motive at this time, and so I cannot comment further on that, Det. Krawczyk said.

in the although any connection between the two incidents was not confirmed or clear at press time.

However, fans recently renamed the residence “Kendrick’s court” on Google Maps in a prank presumably related to the battle; near the house other structures had been jokingly renamed as well.

Variety will have more on the situation as it develops.

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