By Ismael AbduSalaam
Seeking to end much of the media speculation surrounding a shooting at his August 6 event, Rick Ross has elected to emphasize the positive work done by his charity organization that day.
Ross, who remained to meet with fans and do a short performance after the shooting, felt obligated to end the event on a positive note after tragedy was averted.
“Some of these people were here before the event started, I couldn’t leave them hanging because of any disturbance,” Ross explained to AllHipHop.com “I’m glad no one was hurt and most importantly I’m glad we were able to provide the Carol City Community with some needed services.”
The 2nd annual “Be Out Day” was hosted by Rick Ross Charities, Inc., which provided complimentary health screenings (HIV, onsite insurance) and voter registration to over 2,000 people who attended.
The organization’s 2008 scholarship recipient was Carol City High School graduate Diamond Excel, who will attend Florida A&M University this fall.
The positive event was marred in controversy, after shots rang out during presentations from City of Miami Gardens Mayor Shirley Gibson and State Representative Oscar Brayon II.
In light of recent criticism against Ross’s street credibility, many speculated that the shooting was staged to take heat off the smokinggun.com expose, or the result of angry local fans no longer receptive to Ross’s persona.
These accusations were immediately dispelled by Jonathan Cunningham, a writer for the New Times Broward-Palm Breach who attended the event.
“Since I was on the ground, I can tell you that all of that is garbage,” Cunningham stated. “The shooting had nothing to do with Ross and came from outside of Carol City Park (venue location), not inside as was reported yesterday. It was basically an argument between some young dudes to the right of the stage, outside of the park, when one person let about 12-15 rounds up in the air.”
No one was injured during the gun discharges. Rick Ross Charities, Inc, founded in 2006, is already planning next year’s “Be Out Day” event at press time.