The crime should be easy to solve: A blinged-out rap star is shot in his royal blue $250,000 Lamborghini on a busy Washington street during Howard University's homecoming weekend. A half-dozen people witness the attack, including several members of the star's entourage, following him in a bubblegum-pink Range Rover. The celebrity himself apparently gets a good look at the gunman.
But the police say their investigation is stalled for one maddening reason. The victim -- platinum-selling New York rapper Cameron "Cam'ron" Giles, who was shot in both arms -- doesn't seem to be cooperating. Nearly four weeks have passed, and the police can't even get Cam'ron on the phone.
"Cam isn't going to do it," said Juelz Santana, Cam'ron's rapping buddy and protege. "It's not in our nature. He isn't going to stand up and point out a guy in a witness line and say, 'That is the dude who shot me.' We all came from the street."
Snitch? Never. He'd lose all street cred. His rivals would pounce, his CD sales would crash, his cologne and liquor sales would dry up, the game would be over.
It's a familiar but frustrating refrain that police hear every day from shooting victims in some of the city's toughest neighborhoods.
"We need the cooperation of witnesses and victims," said D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey. "I can't relate to that mentality. I can't comment on that thought process. I don't think much of it. I don't see the logic at all."
The police are so fed up that they're looking for ways to force the issue. Turns out, Cam'ron's on five years' probation for a gun conviction in New York and could wind up in trouble if he fails to cooperate. Police officials said authorities also may subpoena him to appear before a grand jury.
Who Shot Killa' Cam? Within the hip-hop world, the rumor mill has cranked up full tilt with theories at clubs, on radio stations, on the Internet. Maybe rivals had it in for him. Or someone he beefed with that night. Or carjackers. Or robbers. Or maybe some D.C. thugs were upset that Cam'ron was "flossing," showing off his jewelry and sports car in a city not his own.
Some even argue that Cam'ron staged the attack -- that it was nothing more than a publicity stunt.
Any way it shakes out, one thing seems sure: Getting shot means more street cred for Cam, more aggravation for the cops.
The Shooting
This is what police do know:
The 29-year-old rapper was in town Saturday, Oct. 22, to promote the forthcoming release of Juelz Santana's second album, "What the Game's Been Missing." Howard University's homecoming, legendary in rap circles, was the perfect place to do it. The shows, concerts, club parties and after-parties draw celebrities from hip-hop, sports, high society. Notorious B.I.G., LL Cool J and Ludacris have all rhymed about it.
