Rapper Filming Video About Guns Shot Dead in South Side Park

CHICAGO, IL - 23-year-old Damond Dawson was a “loving” family member who was just at Foster Park early Tuesday morning having a good time, his aunt, Angela Mathis-Tate told the Chicago Tribune Tuesday just hours after learning of her nephew’s death.

“He wasn’t no rapper,” she said, although describing him as an aspiring one. “He was a newcomer just trying to say some lyrics.”

READ MORE: 1 Killed, 4 Wounded During Rap Video Shooting

But witnesses at Foster Park, an Auburn Gresham hangout that often leads to trouble between members of rival gangs east and west of Ashland Avenue, say it indeed was a rap video that was being made when several shots rang out just before 2:30 a.m. in an ambush-style attack that left Dawson dead and four others, including his brother, wounded.

The name of the video: “2 Techs and a 50 Shot.” References to firearms often preferred by gang members.

Dawson was known to friends and family as “Thugga,” another tragically ironic detail behind the overnight ambush at Foster Park. He was shot in the back of the head and found dead at the scene just after 4 a.m.

Dawson’s brother was also injured in the attack, as were two of his male cousins. A female who was with the group but not related to Dawson was also hurt. They are recovering at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, the nearest trauma center to the South Side of Chicago. 

Investigators remained at the scene until daylight, searching the playground area, basketball courts and tennis courts for evidence.

Mathis-Tate described the attack as coming from two ends of the park, with a pair of gunmen firing at least 10 shots.

“One coming west of the park and one coming south,” she said.