A popular hip-hop disc jockey was in critical condition Friday after being shot at least 13 times and robbed of jewelry outside an apartment building, authorities said.
Carl Blaze, born Carlos Rivera, had been wearing a white metal diamond chain when he was shot at about 4:30 a.m. Thursday in northern Manhattan’s Inwood section. The chain was missing when police arrived, investigators said. Police were searching for suspects.
Building resident Elizabeth Figueroa said she was at home when she heard gunshots and pressed her intercom button to find out what was happening in the lobby area.
“We said, ‘What’s going on?”’ she recalled, “and he said, ‘I’ve been shot. I’ve been shot. Help me, please help me!”’
Figueroa ran down to help and found the DJ slumped at the foot of a staircase, bleeding profusely.
“He just said, ‘I’m hurt, I’m hurt, I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die,”’ said Figueroa.
Blaze’s brother-in-law, Luis Aspajo, said the shooting left Blaze unable to communicate.
“He can hear us, but he can’t respond,” said Aspajo, 40. “It’s tragic. We weren’t expecting this.”
Blaze, 30, broadcasts on Friday and Saturday nights on New York’s Power 105.1, which announced the shooting over the air.
“Listeners have been calling in with their love and support and prayers,” said spokeswoman Josefa Paganuzzi.