Cage the Elephant frontman Matt Shultz arrested in New York for carrying two loaded firearms
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: Matt Shultz, 39, the lead singer of the Grammy-winning rock band Cage The Elephant, has reportedly been detained in New York City for possessing loaded firearms. On Thursday, January 5, NYPD officers reportedly responded to a 911 call and discovered two loaded firearms in his room at the Bowery Hotel in lower Manhattan. An NYPD spokesman reportedly said, “Police responded to the location and subsequent to an investigation, a search warrant was obtained and two loaded firearms were recovered from a room at the location.”
According to Daily Mail, on Wednesday night, January 4, a hotel employee observed Shultz entering a ground-floor public restroom while carrying a firearm. Officers arrived early on Thursday, January 5, and knocked on his hotel room door. He entered the hallway and acknowledged having two .45 caliber weapons. When asked if he still had the weapons, he told them that he did not know. As a result, he was taken into custody by police. Police were able to enter the room after a court approved a search warrant, and they found two loaded guns, a Sig Sauer and a Smith & Wesson, there. The musician reportedly did not have a license to carry the firearms.
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Shultz, who is originally from Nashville, has no prior criminal history. The officers have brought two counts of criminal possession of a weapon without a license charge against the musician. Photos obtained by the Daily Mail showed Shultz being handcuffed and escorted by officers. He reportedly spent the night at the Lower Manhattan 9th Precinct. He was brought to Bellevue Hospital on Friday morning, January 6, as he required medication, and after being there for a few hours, he was brought back to the station again.
How Cage the Elephant rose to fame
In 2006, Shultz and his brother, Brad, founded Cage The Elephant. The band gained a lot of fame thanks to hits including 'Ain't No Rest for the Wicked', 'Trouble', and 'Shake Me Down'. The band won a Grammy award twice for best rock album, first in 2017 for their album ‘Tell Me I’m Pretty', and again in 2020 for their album 'Social Cues’. ‘Come a Little Closer’ and ‘Cigarette Daydreams’ are two songs from their 2013 album ‘Melophobia’, which were also nominated for a Grammy in the best alternative music album category. On November 20, 2022, the band also gave its most recent performance at the Wonderfront Music & Arts Festival in San Diego, California.