Toronto police say a security guard working outside the Bridle Path neighbourhood home of rap superstar Drake was seriously injured in a shooting early Tuesday morning.
Insp. Paul Krawczyk told reporters the shooting happened at around 2 a.m. outside of the gates of the Park Lane Circle home, which is near Bayview and Lawrence avenues.
“That person was working, apparently, as a security guard at the residence,” Krawczyk said.
“He was standing outside of the gates in front of the residence when the shooting occurred.”
Krawczyk said he could not confirm if Drake was home at the time of the incident. He did note police are in contact “with his team” and that they are “cooperating” with investigators.
The security guard was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries where he remains, police said in an update Tuesday afternoon.
Police have collected some video evidence which captured the shooting, Krawczyk said, but noted he would not release any further details on suspects or a vehicle description because of “video quality issues.”
“As we have information and we’re able to analyze the video better, then we’ll be able to provide more information,” Krawczyk said.
He said “individuals” were seen in a vehicle but did not specify how many.
The shooting comes amid an ongoing feud between Drake and rapper Kendrick Lamar, though Krawczyk would not comment if that had anything to do with Tuesday’s shooting.
“I am aware of what you’re talking about,” Krawczyk said.
“But it is so early in the investigation that we don’t have a motive at this time. And so I cannot comment further on that.”
The latest rap beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar saw the Toronto-born artist release his fourth diss track against Lamar, entitled The Heart Part 6, on Sunday.
The track is over five minutes long and attempts to dispute several claims made by Lamar, 36, in his earlier raps targeting Drake, 37. Much of the response sees Drake deny grooming underage girls for sex, an allegation that has followed the rapper for years now.
So far, there’s been nine tracks released in the ongoing feud between Drake and Lamar — though Drake seemed to imply he’s growing tired of their back and forth, regardless of how enthusiastic their collective fanbases have been.
— With files from Global News’ Sarah Do Couto and Aaron D’Andrea