Police Tether Car Used By Suspects in Killing of Rapper Young Dolph to Another Shooting

On Monday, authorities in Tennessee said they have tethered a car used by suspects in the killing of rapper Young Dolph to another shooting where a woman died and another person was wounded days before the death of the artist.

Capt. Jack Howell of the Covington Police Department told The Associated Press that a white Mercedes-Benz connected to Young Dolph's shooting was found to be used in another shooting on Nov. 12 in Covington, a city located 40 miles north of Memphis.

Two people exited the Mercedes at an intersection, firing around 40 rounds from high-powered rifles into a car they had followed out of a high school football game at night, Howell said.

Two women were shot, with one dead and the other still in hospital care, said Howell.

Days after, Young Dolph was buying cookies at a Memphis bakery when two men in the same Mercedes got out of the vehicle and shot into the establishment, killing the rapper, according to the Memphis police. Information on the suspects has yet to be released and no arrests have been made despite police releasing photos captured from surveillance footage.

Covington police are searching alongside Memphis police and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for the suspects, thought to be from the Memphis area, Howell said.

The Mercedes was found on Sunday in a Memphis neighborhood, with evidence connecting the vehicle to both shootings, Howell said.

Young Dolph, 36, also known as Adolph Johnston Jr., was in Memphis, his hometown, for a series of Thanksgiving turkey giveaways and to visit a cancer center. The rapper had aided in organizing an event at a Memphis church Friday, where friends and colleagues gave out turkeys, stuffing mix, and cranberry sauce. He was supposed to attend.

For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.

Young Dolph was shot at Makeda's Cookies, a beloved, family-owned bakery known for its tasty butter cookies and banana pudding. The bakery was a favorite of the rapper, who regularly visited it when he was in the city.

The store where he was shot, which is near Memphis International Airport, remained boarded up and could be closed for the rest of the year, the bakery's management has said.

A second location in downtown Memphis reopened to customers Monday. More than $85,000 has been donated online in support of the bakery, which is named after a 6-year-old girl who died of cancer.

Fans of the cookie shop, which also sells its products in grocery stores and caters events, say it is an important part of the community.

Julian Boyd, a co-owner of D'Bos Wings N More restaurant, said the Black-owned bakery was popular among celebrities and regular folks alike.

"As a community, we have to do a better job of loving and supporting our Black-owned businesses instead of inflicting violence in them," Boyd said. "All of the attention that this beautiful Black-owned business is getting is going to be directly related with gun violence. That's terrible."