Skilla Baby (real name Trevon Gardner) was the victim of a drive-by shooting in Redford, Mich., on Thursday evening (May 22), Billboard can confirm. A press release from the Redford Township Police Department — who did not identify the Detroit rapper — said a male was transported to a local hospital to have his non-life-threatening injuries treated.
The lead investigator on the case, Edward French, told TMZ that the suspect pulled up alongside the rapper’s car and fired an estimated 25 times.
The press release noted that he suffered three non-fatal gunshot wounds before crashing his vehicle into a building in the area of 8 Mile and Centralia around 7 p.m. local time. When officers arrived on the scene, they discovered a bullet-ridden vehicle, but Skilla Baby — who was alone in the car, according to the press release — was already being transported to a local hospital.
Per FOX2, the rapper was grazed in the head and back, and also shot in the hand area. He was alert during his time in the hospital and is expected to recover.
Police are still searching for the unidentified gunman, who fled the scene.
Billboard has reached out to Skilla Baby’s reps for comment.
Last year, Skilla partnered with the Detroit City Council to produce a gun buyback event, aiming to reduce gun violence across his hometown.
“It was successful,” the 26-year-old told Billboard of the event. “We got 300 guns off the street. I think the underrated part of the gun buyback was that it was a job fair and we expunged a lot of people’s records. That was important to me, because I’m a felon, and to help people change their life and the trajectory of their future — people judge you, and it’s hard to be successful when you’re a felon.”
2024 was a busy year for Skilla Baby, who delivered a pair of projects with The Coldest to start the campaign, followed by Crack Music 3 in November.
