Nipsey Hussle's friend shot fatally in NYC hated police so much he refused to identify gunman: 'F*** you, son'
NEW YORK CITY: A known Crip and friend of slain rapper Nipsey Hussle reportedly had such a hatred for the police that, after he was fatally wounded during a shooting, he refused to identify his killer.
Arsenio Gravesande, 28, was struck in the left hip during a shootout that broke out on a Brownsville street corner at Union Street and Sutter Avenue at around 9:20 pm on Tuesday, August 20, according to New York Daily News.
Bethany Samuels, his cousin, said she believed Gravesande had been set up. She said he received a phone call that night to meet someone around the corner from his home, and that he and two of his friends walked down the block.
Five minutes later, she said she heard gunshots ring out. "One of his friends came running around saying, 'Arsenio got hit, Arsenio got hit,'" she said. "So I ran around the corner and he was on the floor saying he can’t breathe."
Police also rushed to the scene in a bid to apprehend the culprits but found Gravesande to be uncooperative. Sources said that when officers tried to question Gravesande, he responded with, "F*** you, son."
Gravesande's refusal to speak to the authorities would have come as little surprise to those aware of his background. The 28-year-old is a member of the Crips, one of the largest and most violent street gangs in the US, and has 43 arrests on his record, including one for resisting arrest.
But detectives thought they would get another opportunity to speak to him at the hospital because the initial prognosis from first responders at the scene was that his injuries were not life-threatening.
"Sometimes, they cool down and talk to us," a police source told the Post. "They have a change of heart and ID the shooter."
However, there would be no such closure in this case, at least, for the time being.
Samuels said the 28-year-old was dying after he was shot and that he was aware of his grave situation during the ambulance ride to the hospital.
"The ambulance came and I got in there with him," she revealed. "He was moving around, he was grabbing everything, he didn’t want to stay stabilized. He didn’t want to stay down. He kept telling me, 'Bethany I’m dead, I can’t breathe, I’m dead.' I was telling him, 'No you’re not dead.'
When he arrived at Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, doctors realized that he did not have much time. They determined that the bullet had struck and pierced through multiple arteries.
Gravesande was rushed into emergency surgery, but ultimately could not be saved.
New York Daily News reported that the 28-year-old was part of an alarming statistic: he was one of five people shot dead across Brooklyn and Queen in just 22 hours that day.
Angel Nixon, 18, died after he was shot in the head, torso, and legs at around 12:30 am in Springfield Gardens following what was allegedly an argument over a loud party.
Gregory Haskins, 25, was found with a fatal gunshot wound to the chest on Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica, Queens, at around 8:10 pm.
The names of the other three victims have been withheld pending family notification.