Tione Jayden Merritt, better known by his stage name Lil Tjay, was shot numerous times during an attempted robbery on Wednesday, 22 June in New Jersey, leaving him with multiple gunshot wounds. As per reports by TMZ, the 21-year-old rapper was rushed for an emergency surgery soon after the incident, and is currently recovering.
According to the same source, authorities have arrested two of the rapper's friends as well as Mohamed Konate, a 27-year-old New York City resident, on charges of unlawful possession of weapons and armed robbery.
Tjay, was shot shortly after midnight on 22 June, near a shopping promenade in Edgewater, as per a report from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office. Identified by the authorities, the two friends of the Bronx rapper, Antoine Boyd, 22 and Jeffrey Valdez, 24, were present at the site when the shooting took place. When the officials arrived at the location, Tjay was found with 'multiple gunshot wounds' while Boyd, with a 'single gun shot wound.'
As per reports by TMZ, three counts of first-degree attempted murder have been charged against Konate. The two friends, who were with Tjay were also arrested by the police for second-degree unlawful possession of weapons.
The US rapper had recently dropped his new song 'Goin Up' two months before the mishap took place. Besides, the 21-year-old star from Bronx has a huge fanbase with over 7 million followers on Instagram and 957.9K followers on Twitter.
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