Chicago Rapper Shot 64 Times Across The Street From Jail Following His Release

Earned or not, Chicago has long had a reputation for gun violence, and it looks like it will only continue to grow in 2021.

Londre Sylvester AKA KTS Dre

Shortly after his release from Cook County Jail on Saturday night, 31-year-old Londre Sylvester, a local rapper who performed as KTS Dre, was ambushed and shot. Sylvester, whose stage name reportedly stands for "Kill To Survive" was riddled with 64 bullets — several finding his head and chest. He was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital and later pronounced dead according to police. 

A 60-year-old woman who was with him and took a bullet to the knee was in good condition at the time of this report as well as a 30-year-old female bystander walking in the area who had a bullet graze her face.

The shooting appeared to be an ambush targeting Sylvester according to the Chicago Tribune which published the following excerpt from the police report:

“It appears Sylvester was the intended target while (the women) were inadvertently struck,” the police report states.

Sylvester had “just been released” from custody and was fitted for electronic monitoring “as a condition of his bail,” the police report said. He and the 60-year-old woman were walking “to an awaiting vehicle when several unknown (suspects) exited two separate vehicles and all began to shoot in Sylvester’s direction, striking him numerous times,” the police report said.

Sylvester was ordered to be held on $50,000 bail on July1 after prosecutors hit him with a petition for violation of bail bond last month for allegedly failing to meet conditions of his release in a 2020 felony gun case. He had posted $5,000 bail on Friday before walking into his apparent execution.

The murder was only the most horrendous example of gun violence over a weekend that saw 10 people killed and 35 injured in shootings, prompting a meeting with Chicago's top cop, Police Superintendent, David Brown and other city officials to meet with President Joe Biden Monday afternoon to address the problem.