T.I's Crew Involved In Shoot Out

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Four members of rapper T.I.'s posse were shot after a highway gun battle in Cincinnati early Wednesday morning. According to The Cincinnati Enquirer, witnesses told police that words were exchanged and a fight broke out inside the Club Ritz at an after-hours party following a show by T.I. and Yung Joc earlier in the evening across town at the Bogart's nightclub.

The fight reportedly moved outside and shots were fired around 3:20 a.m., injuring three men and a woman whose identities have not yet been released.

Police told local NBC affiliate, WLWT, that the rolling gun battle began after T.I. left Club Ritz and shots were fired into two vans transporting his entourage as they traveled down the highway.

The shooting led to the closing of the southbound lanes of Interstate 75, one of the two main highways leading to and from downtown Cincinnati, during the morning rush hour as police investigated the three-mile long crime scene. Among the evidence they were looking at was a black van that was believed to belong to T.I., which was found along I-75 after the incident, as well as a white van that was also found along the highway.

The names and conditions of the victims have not been released, but WLWT said that homicide detectives were dispatched to the scene, indicating that at least two injuries were considered life threatening. As of Wednesday morning, the other two victims had been treated and released. T.I. was not among those injured and a spokesperson for the rapper could not be reached for comment on the incident.

Community leaders and police asked the Cincinnati City Council to close down Club Ritz last year after several incidents at the club, but council members voted against it. Two months later, in June 2005, three people were shot in front of the club after a fight spilled outside.