Indianapolis rapper shot and killed at 35
Indianapolis rapper Lil E has reportedly been shot dead at the age of 35.
The musician (real name Eric D Butler), best known for his song ‘Hardly Breathe’, lost his life in the early hours of June 19th.
According to Fox 59, police responded to reports of a shooting on the city’s east side at around 2:15am. The shooting took place on the 200 block of South Franklin Road.
The rapper was found suffering from gunshot wounds; he was taken to a local hospital but succumbed to his injuries.
Shortly after his death, the Marion County Coroner’s Office identified Lil E as the victim. It’s unclear what led to the shooting, with the investigation ongoing.
E has almost 100,000 monthly Spotify listeners and 35,000 Instagram followers. He released his biggest album, Professional Shit Talking, a collaboration with Rio Da Yung OG, in November 2019.
The video for ‘Hardly Breathe’ has over nine million views on YouTube. Some of his other biggest songs include ‘Buy the Block’, ‘Str8 Drop Too’, ‘Stay on It’, and ‘Touchdown’.
Fans took to the comments of his Instagram posts to pay tribute. One person wrote, “Rest in heaven my dawg,” while another said, “Rest in heaven my dawg.”
Another fan wrote, “You’ll forever be the greatest rapper to ever come out of Indianapolis. It’s not even a debate. The city going miss you the whole [world] goin miss you. Long Live The King Of Indianapolis.”
In one of his final Instagram posts, E wrote, “REAL ONEZ NEVER BREAK WE BEND BUT DONT FOLD!!!” He also teased a new song called ‘Viral Moment’, adding, “Success started from a dream selected few catch it. Understand politics bout thinking and strategic methods!!!”