Rapper Lil Tjay Undergoes Emergency Surgery After Shooting in N.J.: Reports
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Rich Fury/Getty Lil Tjay
Rapper Lil Tjay was hospitalized with gunshot wounds after he was shot outside a New Jersey shopping complex early Wednesday, according to multiple reports.
The "Leaked" rapper, 21, underwent emergency surgery following the incident, and is recovering, TMZ reported.
Officers with the Edgewater Police Department responded to a shooting at The Promenade in Edgewater at 12:08 a.m., and found a 22-year-old victim with gunshot wounds, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office (BCPO) said in a press release.
A second victim, 22, was found with a single gunshot wound at a nearby Exxon gas station, and both victims were transported to a local hospital for treatment, the release said.
The BCPO later said that one of the hospitalized victims had been upgraded from critical to stable condition, while the other was in good condition with non-life-threatening injuries.
Update on #BCPONJ & @EdgewaterPolice investigation in Edgewater NJ shooting: per initial investigation, does not appear to be random act and one victim upgraded from critical to stable condition. Other admitted to hospital with non-life threatening injuries in good condition.
— BCPONJ (@BCPONJ) June 22, 2022
Officials did not name either person involved, but TMZ and WABC identified one of the victims as Lil Tjay (whose real name is Tione Merritt). It remains unclear why both victims were said to be 22 years old, and whether Tjay is the victim in stable or in good condition.
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An initial investigation from the BCPO and the Edgewater Police Department determined that the shooting "does not appear to be [a] random act," the BCPO said on Twitter.
Reps for Tjay did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. The Edgewater Police Department directed PEOPLE to the BCPO, who said the victims' identities were not available.
The Bronx-born Tjay rose to fame sharing his own music on SoundCloud, and eventually released his debut studio album True 2 Myself in 2019 on Columbia Records.
His song "F.N." has more than 523 million streams on Spotify, and he has more than 7 million followers on Instagram. Tjay was also recently announced as a performer at this year's Rolling Loud music festival, which is set for Sept. 23-25 in Queens, New York.
PRAY FOR TJAY 🙏.
— charlton (@thekidlaroi) June 22, 2022
In April, he announced a new EP titled Strictly4MyFans would be coming soon.
"This summer I promise I'm back on my s—," he wrote in a note to fans on Twitter. "No more 1 song every 5 months [a]nd s— we done with that we going up [a]nd I'm coming for everything I deserve."
As news of the shooting broke, fellow stars like The Kid Laroi and French Montana offered their support on social media.
"PRAY FOR TJAY ." The Kid Laroi wrote on Twitter.
