Durham Regional Police say a 24-year-old rap artist from Toronto is dead after a shooting near Durham College in Oshawa early Tuesday.
Police said officers received a call around 3 a.m. for reports of shots fired in the area of Chevron Prince Path, near Simcoe Street North and Britannia Avenue.
Investigators said When crews arrived at the scene, they located the victim suffering from gunshot wounds.
The man was pronounced dead on scene. He was later identified as Jahquar Stewart, who was also widely known as Bvlly.
Images from the area show a yellow tarp blocking off the porch of a townhouse as well as a shattered glass door on the second floor of the home.
“Our understanding right now is the victim might have been visiting the area,” Insp. Mitch Martin told reporters.
Residents in the area told Global News they witnessed a vehicle fleeing shortly after the shooting.
“It is shocking, waking up on Christmas Eve, seeing that something as sad as that can happen,” Tamika Phiri, who lives in the area, said.
Several tribute messages, along with the phrase RIP, were posted on social media on Tuesday in memory of the musician.
“Waking up and hearing bout (sic) Bvlly really broke my heart,” Lemisha De Cruz wrote on Twitter.
“Bvlly only in my car all day. This is beyond tragic. My heart goes out to his entire family ❤️❤️ You were a pure soul,” Twitter user Richnoir wrote Tuesday afternoon.
His most recent album, Made in Austria, was released in September.
Stewart’s biography on Spotify said his goal was to “challenge the hip-hop game with his talented wordplay, hard work and dedication to become an award-winning rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer.”
“Bvlly began working on his craft at any early age and took the music game seriously in his teenage years,” the biography said.
“Drawing his inspiration from the experiences of growing up Toronto, he continues to gain a growing audience with his unique storytelling.”
Stewart’s death marks Durham Region’s seventh homicide of 2019.
As of Tuesday afternoon, no one was arrested in connection with the shooting. Suspect information wasn’t released by police.
Anyone with information was asked to contact police at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 5418, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.
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