Lil Tjay Shooting Suspect Arrested In New Jersey After Hospital Release

The man accused of shooting Bronx rapper Lil Tjay at a Chipotle in Edgewater, New Jersey has officially been detained.

According to the Daily Voice, New Jersey police arrested Mohamed Konate, 27, on Friday (July 22) and have placed him in Rikers Island. Konate was previously hospitalized after he sustained gunshot wounds in what authorities believe he sustained during the attempted robbery of Tjay.

The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office had previously explained that Konate attempted to rob Lil Tjay and his two friends Antoine Boyd, 22, and Jeffrey Valdez, 24, while they sat in a Dodge Durango near the Promenade shopping center in the Bronx on June 22.

When Tjay resisted, Konate allegedly fired near-fatal shots at him, striking him in the thoracic cavity, which is the area that holds the rib cage, heart, lungs, esophagus and other vital organs. One of Tjay’s friends was shot once, while Konate was also wounded.

Investigators claimed an associate had helped Konate to a BMW following the shooting, then dropped him off at Lennox Hill Hospital on Park Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The investigators would not identify the associate, as they are reportedly cooperating with authorities.

The “In My Head” rapper was airlifted to Hackensack University Medical Center and underwent emergency surgery, where he is now said to be awake, talking and breathing on his own. Konate is being charged with three counts of first-degree attempted murder, while two associates are being charged with second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon.

Lil Tjay’s most recent project, Destined 2 Win, arrived in 2021, which included the Billboard Hot 100 hit “Calling My Phone” featuring 6LACK, as well as “Headshot” with Fivio Foreign and Polo G. He recently dropped off two new singles “In My Head” and “Goin Up.”