Witness Says Shooter Was Gunning For Busta Rhymes

A heated argument apparently led to the shooting that took the life of a 29-year-old man on the set of a Busta Rhymes video shoot Sunday morning (February 5), SOHH.com has learned.

As SOHH previously reported, Israel Ramirez, a bodyguard who recently started working security for Busta as his jewelry handler, was shot and killed shortly after midnight outside of the Kiss The Cactus Production studio in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, NY.

"The guy went to shoot Busta Rhymes and the bodyguard jumped in front... and took the bullet," a source told SOHH exclusively. "The dude was gonna shoot Busta Rhymes."

According to eyewitnesses, the shooting was a result of an argument that began inside the studio and continued outside. Ramirez got in to a fight while escorting people out of the studio before the shooting.

"I saw [Ramirez] come up the door guy," another eyewitness told SOHH exclusively. "They whispered back and forth and then I heard [Ramirez] say that something might happen."

According to the New York Post, police are looking for Tony Yayo, who "stomped out of the studio after arguing with the video's producer" shortly before the shooting occurred.

Busta was at the Brooklyn studio shooting a video for the remix to "Touch It." DMX, Mary J. Blige and Missy Elliott, who are all featured on the remix, were all said to have been on set throughout the day as were Sean Paul, boxers Winky Wright and Felix Trinidad.

SOHH has also learned from another source that this was the second time in recent months that Busta and his entourage have been shot at.

Ironically, almost three years to the date (February 21, 2003) Busta's SUV was riddled with bullets as it sat parked outside the Violator Records/Management offices in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Busta and a company executive went into the Violator offices at about 10 pm that night and came out eighteen minutes later to find the vehicle shot up on the passenger side. Thankfully, no one was in the car.

At press time, neither Busta nor his label, Aftermath/Interscope, have released a statement about the murder.

Source: www.SOHH.com