A rising Chicago drill rapper known as Bloodhound Q50 was shot and killed early Sunday in an ambush at a BP gas station, with surveillance video showing gunmen firing dozens of rounds into his Tesla as his pregnant girlfriend waited inside.
The artist, whose real name was Mikquale Cooper, was 22 years old and had more than a million monthly listeners on Spotify. Footage shows him walking out of the gas station and getting into his white Tesla before a hooded gunman ran up and opened fire, shattering the driver’s side window. A second gunman then stood in front of the car and fired repeatedly into it. Others were seen shooting from a Honda parked at one of the station’s pumps, according to Fox 32.
A witness told the Chicago Sun-Times the gunfire seemed to go on far longer than police accounts suggest.
“I thought I heard over 100 [shots]. I think the [police] markings stopped at 80 or something, but I feel like I heard way more than that.”
According to the Sun-Times, one of the gunmen warned Cooper’s girlfriend before the shooting began, telling her, “This is gonna be your man’s last night alive.”
In a social media post obtained by Fox 32, the girlfriend said she told Cooper to “hurry up and pull off” after noticing “dudes were walking around the car looking suspicious” while he was inside the gas station. She said the car would not move because his seat belt was not fastened as he tried to put it in drive.
“As soon as [I] heard shots, I got out [as] fast as I could and ran screaming for help.”
She described Cooper as her “homie,” “lover,” and “my unborn baby father.”
No arrests have been made and police have not identified a motive. Fox 32 reported that some of the alleged shooters bragged about the killing online, showing off weapons that resembled those seen in the surveillance footage.
A Pattern of Loss
Cooper’s death continues a string of violence connected to his circle. His cousin, rapper Bloodhound Zmoney, was shot dead three years ago. A close friend, Bloodhound Lil Jeff, was killed at age 21 in a Chicago shooting in June 2024, and another associate, Lil Scoom 89, was shot dead the following month.
Cooper himself had faced weapons charges. He was sentenced to a year in prison in December 2024 after pleading guilty to a gun charge, and a firearm was found in his backpack while he was being treated for an injury following a shooting in September 2023.
Weeks before his death, Cooper spoke openly about the risks he faced in an interview with DJ Akademiks on YouTube, discussing his survival of ongoing feuds and life in the city.
“I’m not chasing death but I’m not running from it either. I know what I signed up for. One slip-up, you’re gone.”
The investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login