How a Rap Concert Burst Into Violence

The following account of the incidents at the Celebrity Theatre Thursday night is based, in part, on reports by Times pop music writer Mike Boehm, who was in the theater reviewing the rap show, and Times staff photographer Alexander Gallardo, who was outside when a teen-ager was shot.

As rap shows go, the one at the Celebrity Theatre on Thursday night was fairly ordinary in the beginning. As usual, patrons lined up outside, waiting to be searched for weapons and contraband. Inside, the audience danced and rocked to the frenetic beat.

But about an hour into the show, all hell broke loose outside. Later, skirmishes also erupted inside the theater.

Some witnesses said the melee inside the theater that led to the show’s cancellation was linked to the gunfire just outside that left a 16-year-old boy with a stomach wound. Others--including the police--said it appeared that the violence inside and outside the theater were not related. Some said gangs started the fights, while others--including some performers--said lax security and poor management heightened tensions and caused the crowd to erupt.

Amid all of the conflicting accounts, one thing is clear: The actions of a few troublemakers quickly turned a few hours of enjoyment for 2,500 happy rap fans into a chaotic frenzy.

The star attraction for the evening was Ice Cube, the outspoken rapper formerly with Compton rap group N.W.A. A sellout crowd traveled from all over the Southland to see his performance, but he never made it on stage.

The show began at 8 p.m. with Kid Rock, who was followed, after about 20 minutes, by another rapper from Los Angeles, Yo-Yo. Fans who got past the security checkpoints in time for the opening acts were enjoying themselves.

“It’s harder to get into here tonight than Fort Knox,” said Gary D, a disc jockey at radio station KDAY-AM and the show’s master of ceremonies.

Before the trouble started, he said there was “nothing to be scared about. We’re just here to have a good time.”

Outside in the cold, the situation grew tense. At 9 p.m., an hour after the show started, hundreds of concert-goers were still lined up, waiting to be frisked and scanned with hand-held metal detectors by staffers from VIP Security Services.

“That’s normal at a rap show,” John Reese, president of Phoenix-based VIP, said Friday.

The crowd began to grow impatient at the slow search procedures. Patrons who had already been searched began to back up into the line of people waiting to be searched. Security staff members suspended the operation until everyone who had been searched entered the theater, further angering those still waiting in line.

“They let these people stay out here way too long, man,” said a man who identified himself as a manager of rapper Too Short, one of the evening’s acts. “If they’d opened the door up an hour and a half earlier, everything would be fine. The Celebrity (Theatre) provoked this.”

Reese argued that the delay was caused by many of the fans showing up near show time.

“It wasn’t so much getting the people in as that they showed up late,” he said.

Shortly after 9 p.m., the crowd’s anger overflowed. A throng of fans stampeded past the checkpoint, toward the open doors. But the security staff controlled the situation in seconds, tossing out those who passed the checkpoint and closely guarding the glass doors.

The crowd started lining up in an orderly fashion when suddenly a man wearing a long black coat began walking along the line, taunting waiting concert-goers, said a witness, Chari Hariston, 19, of Los Angeles. A moment later, someone ran up and punched the man in the head.

Then a shot rang out.

“A gun went pop and everybody started screaming,” Hariston said. “Everybody dived. Everybody was running.”

The victim, later identified by hospital officials as Willie Baker, 16, of Los Angeles, lay on the sidewalk with a handgun entry wound in his stomach and an exit wound in his back. His was reported in fair condition Friday after emergency surgery at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center.

Inside the theater was confusion. Some witnesses said it was because some in the audience heard the gunshot and panicked. Others said it was because security guards who had been tightly guarding the stage ran out to the sidewalk.

At about 9:35 p.m., Too Short was a few minutes into his act when the stage was overrun with fans. The disc jockey booth near the apron of the circular stage was surrounded. Fans waved their arms and laughed, giddy at being on stage with the rappers. The houselights came on, but Too Short kept rapping.

By 9:37, the stage was filled with fans. Too Short abandoned his act. About half of the fans filed into the lobby--adding to confusion near the shooting scene--while the rest stayed to see whether the show would go on. Gary D, the emcee, came on stage to pass a police message to the remaining crowd.

“Anaheim P.D. is backstage,” he said. “They want to shut this down. . . . If we keep our seats and not come on stage for the rest of the show, the show can go on. It’s as simple as that.”

Anaheim police were taking action outside the theater too. After the shooting, they refused to let anyone else inside, angering some in an already tense and frightened crowd. Some people refused to leave and were arrested. A police helicopter swooped down on the theater’s parking garage to chase off some fans who had gathered there.

At 10:10 p.m., Ice Cube’s road crew came on stage and began packing up his gear. Five minutes later, a theater staff member made a terse announcement: “Ladies and gentleman, the remainder of tonight’s show has been canceled.”

But the evening didn’t end there. Amara Faulkner, 14, of Torrance, said she and a friend were leaving the theater when they were attacked by youths who snatched her friend’s chains.

“They robbed my home girl,” she said. “They ripped her clothes. They stole her chains. She was running and trying to fight them off, but there were too many of them.”