Police are seeking
suspects in an early morning shoot-out on the set of a Busta Rhymes video shoot
in Brooklyn, New York.
Israel Ramirez,
29, was shot once in the chest and was pronounced dead a short time later.
Rhymes, who was
in the studio at the time of the shooting, was not injured.
Rhymes was shooting
a full length remix video for his single "Touch It," on Green Street
in Greenpoint, known for it’s thriving artistic community.
Last week, Busta
Rhymes released three all-star remixes to "Touch It."
The video will
feature Missy Elliott, Mary J. Blige, DMX, Papoose, Rah Digga, Lloyd Banks,
Sean "Diddy" Combs, Winky Wright, Garry Sheffield, Raekwon and others.
Shortly before
the shooting marred the all-star video shoot, Rhymes was in good spirits.
"Touch It"
is taken from his highly anticipated Aftermath/Interscope debut The Big Bang,
which is slated for an April release date.
"I am blessed
to be in a position at this stage in my career that I could put out one record
and completely dominate the scene with the crème de la crème of
NY," Busta Rhymes said shortly before the shooting took place. "Mary,
Missy, Rah Digga, Banks, DMX and Papoose…its just the beginning.”
Police are viewing
surveillance footage from nearby buildings hoping to identify a suspect in the
murder.
Representatives
for Interscope declined to comment on the shooting.