Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Member of Legendary Rap Group Dead

Aired October 31, 2002 - 08:07   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: On to another big story this morning. A member of a legendary rap group is dead. Jam Master Jay, the DJ for Run DMC, was shot to death last night at a recording studio in Queens, New York. He helped pioneer a new kind of music fusing rap with rock and roll. Run DMC became the first rap group nominated for a Grammy and the first to sell more than a million albums.
Jay, who was born Jason Mizell, was gunned down by the two men police say were actually buzzed into the studio.

Michael Okwu joins us now from the Hollis section of Queens -- good morning, Michael.

Is it any clearer what happened last night?

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely not clear. Investigators have been here on the scene. Police officers standing behind me and detectives walking in and out of this building. Again, as you say, Paula, it happened at about 7:30 last night. Two men were buzzed into this studio here in Jamaica, Queens, and they essentially went up to the second floor lounge where Jam Master Jay and an associate were sitting down. They shot him once in the head and the other man once in the arm and then fled without leaving any explanation whatsoever for the shooting.

And almost immediately, Paula, a torrent of emotions, mourners mixed in with police to pay their respects. Among them many hip hop greats. And this morning now flowers, notes, posters wishing him well, signs saying we need to keep the peace, rest in peace, stop the violence. In fact, Jam Master Jay and the rest of Run DMC sang many times about stopping violence. They, in fact, had plans to go back to work in a studio on their eighth album, to coincide with their 20th anniversary. That is clearly not going to happen at this point.

He is survived by a wife and three children -- Paula.

ZAHN: The fact that these guys would be buzzed in is really curious, isn't it?

OKWU: It is curious, but it's a sort of community, you can see here, where a lot of people know each other. It's very unclear whether these guys said, you know, maybe they were pizza delivery boys or something or whether they actually knew people here in the studio. There are a lot of rumors buzzing on the street today. It's unclear at this point exactly who they are, what their connection was, whether the security who buzzed them in were simply just being loose about their jobs. A lot of questions, not many answers at this point -- Paula.

ZAHN: Michael Okwu, thanks for that live update.

Appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired October 31, 2002 - 08:07   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: On to another big story this morning. A member of a legendary rap group is dead. Jam Master Jay, the DJ for Run DMC, was shot to death last night at a recording studio in Queens, New York. He helped pioneer a new kind of music fusing rap with rock and roll. Run DMC became the first rap group nominated for a Grammy and the first to sell more than a million albums.
Jay, who was born Jason Mizell, was gunned down by the two men police say were actually buzzed into the studio.

Michael Okwu joins us now from the Hollis section of Queens -- good morning, Michael.

Is it any clearer what happened last night?

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely not clear. Investigators have been here on the scene. Police officers standing behind me and detectives walking in and out of this building. Again, as you say, Paula, it happened at about 7:30 last night. Two men were buzzed into this studio here in Jamaica, Queens, and they essentially went up to the second floor lounge where Jam Master Jay and an associate were sitting down. They shot him once in the head and the other man once in the arm and then fled without leaving any explanation whatsoever for the shooting.

And almost immediately, Paula, a torrent of emotions, mourners mixed in with police to pay their respects. Among them many hip hop greats. And this morning now flowers, notes, posters wishing him well, signs saying we need to keep the peace, rest in peace, stop the violence. In fact, Jam Master Jay and the rest of Run DMC sang many times about stopping violence. They, in fact, had plans to go back to work in a studio on their eighth album, to coincide with their 20th anniversary. That is clearly not going to happen at this point.

He is survived by a wife and three children -- Paula.

ZAHN: The fact that these guys would be buzzed in is really curious, isn't it?

OKWU: It is curious, but it's a sort of community, you can see here, where a lot of people know each other. It's very unclear whether these guys said, you know, maybe they were pizza delivery boys or something or whether they actually knew people here in the studio. There are a lot of rumors buzzing on the street today. It's unclear at this point exactly who they are, what their connection was, whether the security who buzzed them in were simply just being loose about their jobs. A lot of questions, not many answers at this point -- Paula.

ZAHN: Michael Okwu, thanks for that live update.

Appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com