Rap Mogul ‘Suge’ Knight Shot in Leg at Party

MIAMI —  Rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight was shot in the leg early today at a party hosted by Grammy-award-winning hip hop artist Kanye West at the Shore Club Hotel in Miami, police said.

Knight, founder of Death Row records, was in good condition at nearby Mt. Sinai Hospital, where he was being treated for “non-life-threatening injuries,” said Miami Beach police spokesman Bobby Hernandez.

An off-duty Florida Highway Patrol officer on a security detail at the hotel’s Red Room bar saw scores of guests pouring out of an inner room at the bar shortly before 12:45 a.m. Eastern time, Hernandez said.

The officer entered the room to find Knight, 40, on the floor with a gunshot wound to his upper leg.

Hernandez did not know which leg was injured.

The incident occurred during a party celebrating the upcoming release of West’s latest album.

Many of the music industry’s biggest stars are in Miami for tonight’s MTV Video Music Awards.

Police ordered the oceanfront club evacuated, leaving partygoers milling outside.

Once the most successful mogul in the rap business, Knight faces a crumbling music empire and a $6-million tax debt.

His label, renamed “Tha Row,” struggled when Knight was sent to prison for assault and weapons violations.

He was released in 2001, then served 10 more months for violating parole and striking a Hollywood nightclub valet.

Times staff writer Jennifer Oldham contributed to this report. Boucher reported from Miami and Rubin from Los Angeles.