SHOOTING OUTSIDE DRAKE'S MANSION
Rapper's security guard seriously injured
TORONTO • Drake's sprawling Toronto mansion was surrounded by police on Tuesday after a security guard working outside the rapper's residence was seriously injured in an overnight shooting.
Toronto police were searching for suspects who fled in a vehicle and said it was too early to comment on a motive. Insp. Paul Krawczyk said he was aware of the headline-grabbing feud between Drake and rapper Kendrick Lamar but made no connection to it and would not comment further.
Krawczyk said he could
not confirm if Drake was home at the time of the shooting, but he said the rapper's team was co-operating with investigators.
“It is so early in the investigation that we don't have a motive at this time,” Krawczyk said in an update outside Drake's mansion.
Police do have complete video footage of the incident, but it is poor quality and they are still working to analyze it. “This is no different than any other investigation. It's maybe more high-profile because there's more people here, but we treat it like any other incident.”
Yellow police tape fluttered in the breeze, cordoning off sections of the street outside Drake's home on Tuesday. Multiple police vehicles were seen in the area and officers could be seen walking around.
The shooting took place shortly after 2 a.m. outside Drake's home in the affluent Bridle Path neighbourhood, police said.
Krawczyk said a security guard had been standing outside the gates at the front of the residence when he was shot, and he was rushed to hospital in serious condition.
“We have individuals who obviously performed the shooting who were seen in a vehicle. I do not have a description of the vehicle or the suspects at this time,” Krawczyk said.
“It's very early on in the investigation … But as we get more information, we will share it with you.”
Krawczyk said he did not know whether the security guard was the target of the shooting or if the suspects tried to get into the sprawling mansion complex.
Police had collected video of the incident but could not immediately identify the suspect vehicle, the inspector said. He said police were dealing with “video-quality issues,” and more information would be provided once they had a chance to analyze it further.
The shooting came as a long-simmering lyrical backand-forth between Drake and Kendrick Lamar escalated in the last week as both released tracks that included unsubstantiated allegations directed at each other.
The location of Drake's mansion is no secret. The rapper himself gave a nod to his neighbourhood in a song from 2021 called “7 a.m. On Bridle Path.” More recently, a satellite image of the home was the cover art for Lamar's new song, Not Like Us. On May 4, Lamar released it in a YouTube video that featured the Park Lane Circle property in the background.
Representatives for Drake did not respond to a request for comment.