Police seek 5 in rapper slay in Bx.
Police on Saturday released images of the five muggers wanted for killing Los Angeles drill rapper Moneygang Vontae at a Bronx pharmacy.
Avanti Frowner, 27, who raps under the Vontae stage name, was in New York City to scout out locations for a music video set to be filmed later in the month when he was killed at the Amazing Community Pharmacy on E. Tremont Ave. near Arthur Ave. in Tremont at about 1:40 p.m. Thursday, police said.
Vontae and a friend from California traveling with him were buying over-the-counter eye drops at the pharmacy when two of the five suspects approached, wanting to know if he wanted to buy some pot, police sources said.
The rapper declined, but the two weed sellers and three others demanded his gold chain, which carried his signature nameplate, cops said.
Surveillance footage obtained by the Daily News shows Vontae and a man wearing a white T-shirt and white do-rag struggling inside the pharmacy as a terrified employee crouches behind the counter.
As an attacker forcefully pulls Vontae to the ground, three other suspects storm the store and pile on top of him while drug store employees run down a staircase into
the basement, the video shows.
The employee crouched behind the counter and moves to the back of the store while one of the men hit Vontae over the
head with a long umbrella.
The do-rag-wearing assailant fumbled with a gun before he shot the drill rapper several times.
As Vontae laid on the floor of the pharmacy bleeding, he fired another shot into his chest before he took off with the massive “Moneygang Vontae” nameplate from his neck, cops said.
EMS rushed Vontae to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he died.
He and his friend had arrived in the city Thursday morning, checked into a hotel near the pharmacy and left, but only his companion returned, telling the front desk clerk Vontae had been killed.
It was not immediately clear if the muggers knew who Vontae was, even though Moneygang Vontae posted photos of himself wearing the nameplate in the Bronx shortly before the shooting.
So far, the robbery and the killing appeared to be a crime of opportunity, a police source said.
The drill rap music genre continues to capture police attention. Rappers belittle and call out rival gang members in their hit songs, fueling gun violence across the city, police say.
Cops released the images of the muggers in the hopes that someone recognizes them.
Anyone with information regarding their whereabouts was urged to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.