Is Beanie Sigel's gangsta past catching with him?
The heavyset Philly rapper, who served time in the slammer last year on a gun charge, was shot during an apparent holdup early Thursday morning, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The 32-year-old Sigel, born Dwight Clark, was treated for a minor gunshot wound to his left shoulder at a nearby hospital and released several hours later.
According to a Philadelphia police spokesman, the one-time Jay-Z protégé was getting in his car at the intersection of 22nd and Sigel streets when he was cornered by five men in two cars who tried to rob him at around 7 a.m. The intersection inspired his stage name and his family maintains a residence there.
Per the police report, one of the men pulled a gun and fired off two rounds, one of which struck the emcee in his upper left arm. Sigel was able to escape in his Chevy Impala and checked himself in at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
Authorities do not have any suspects. The entertainer's attorney, Fortunato Perri Jr., was unavailable for comment, but told the Associated Press that the shooting appeared to be "a random act of violence" and Sigel did not know any of the men who held him up.
That sentiment was echoed by one of the detectives working the case.
"We don't know if they knew who he was," one investigator told the Inquirer, regarding the robbers.
CSI types are examining Beanie's vehicle for evidence that may help them solve the case. The Inquirer reported that drops of Sigel's blood were found on the shoulder seat harness as well as the interior door and driver's side arm rest.
The artist was seen leaving the medical center in a wheelchair with his left arm in a sling just before noon, surrounded by his posse and showed off his war wounds to reporters on the scene.
"I'm shot. I got shot. I'm cool," Sigel said from the back seat of a black Mercedes just before driving off.
When he's not a target, Sigel has been busy working on his own rap sheet.
Last August, he was released after spending a year in a New Jersey prison on federal gun and drug charges. In an unrelated case, he was acquitted of allegedly shooting and killing a man outside a Philadelphia strip club two years ago after the original case ended in a mistrial. In November, Sigel was jailed again for failing to pay child support.
Sigel has three consecutive hit solo albums to his credit, 1999's The Truth, 2001's The Reason and last year's The B. Coming.