Troy Ave Indicted on Attempted Murder, Weapons Charges in Connection with T.I. Concert Shooting

On Thursday, Brooklyn rapper Troy Ave was formally indicted on one charge of attempted murder and two felony weapons charges in connection with a shooting at a T.I. concert. In late May, one person was killed and three others were injured in a shooting that took place during a T.I. concert in Lower Manhattan.

Troy Ave (real name Roland Collins), who was shot in the incident, was arrested in connection with the shooting, but he has pleaded not guilty and created a mixtape from Rikers Island titled Free Troy Ave that claims he acted in self-defense. “Pussy n—a tried to assassinate me, I took the gun from him and turned the tables ’round like a G,” he raps in “Free Troy Ave.”

“He didn’t shoot himself,” said Collins’ lawyer, Scott Leemon. “He didn’t shoot [Ronald] McPhatter, [who was killed in the shooting]. They are victims, and it’s time for the D.A.’s office to start treating them like victims.”

Collins has also created a $10,000 scholarship in honor of McPhatter at New Utrecht High School where they both attended, reports the New York Daily News.

Prosecutors note that all of the bullets and shell casings from the scene matched a gun found in Collins’ van, and he was captured in a surveillance video firing a gun. They allege that Collins began shooting after getting into an argument with a rap critic who wrote a negative review about his music, according to The New York Post.

The rapper will return to court on June 22, and he is currently being held without bail.