Rap promoter shot dead

A man identified as a rap music promoter was fatally shot while sitting in his van in New York city – three days after the killing of Run-DMC founder Jam Master Jay, authorities said.

Keneth Walker, 31, was shot several times in the back about 3am yesterday.

He died three hours later at Lincoln Hospital, said Detective Robert Price, a police spokesman.

Police said Walker was shot as he sat inside his yellow van, which had the names of music groups on its side.

But officers would not confirm newspaper reports that Walker was a music promoter. No telephone number was listed for Walker, who lived in Yonkers, just north of New York City.

Another spokesman, Sergeant Elias Nikas, said detectives had no evidence to suggest that yesterday’s shooting was linked to Wednesday’s murder of rap icon Jam Master Jay, whose real name was Jason Mizell.

“At this time, we have no reason to believe that the two incidents are connected,” Nikas said. “I don’t believe they’re connected to each other.”

A masked gunman shot Mizell, 37, as he played video games in the lounge of his recording studio on Wednesday night.

Detectives from New York Police Department’s gang intelligence unit have been interviewing people at rap concerts and events, and investigators searched the second-floor studio where the killing occurred.