A man believed to be a member of Capone-N-Noreaga 's entourage was shot when gunfire erupted outside WQHT Hot 97 FM's Greenwich Village offices in New York City on Sunday afternoon.

Efrain Ocasio, allegedly an associate of the hip-hop duo, was treated and released from St. Vincent's Medical Center after being shot in the back. Police claim that more than twenty-two shots were fired at 3:17 p.m. after a dispute between two unidentified groups of men.

The remainder of the details about the shooting remain murky. The dispute occurred shortly after Lil' Kim left the Hot 97 offices following an interview with Clue, a Hot 97 disc jockey, and before Capone-N-Noreaga were to appear in the studio. Though the New York Daily News attributed the shootout to a feud between Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown (who slighted Kim on "Bang Bang" on Capone-N-Noreaga's The Reunion last year), Kim's management was quick to respond that she was nowhere near the shooting and had nothing to do with it.

According to the NYPD, no arrests have been made, but the investigation is ongoing. Calls to Lil' Kim's and Capone-N-Noreaga's label were unanswered at press time.

ANDREW DANSBY
(February 27, 2001)