Chicago hip-hop artist Dayvon “King Von” Bennett was one of three men who died in the early hours of Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, outside a downtown Atlanta nightclub after an argument between two groups of men escalated into gunfire.
He was shot in the parking lot of the Monaco Hookah Lounge on Trinity Avenue before the police officers got involved, according to Atlanta police.
The 26-year-old King Von was signed to fellow Chicago rapper Lil Durk’s record label, Only the Family and Empire Distribution. He had recently released a 16-track album, AJC reported. His first single, “Crazy Story” debuted in 2018. He had a line of apparel, according to the King Von “How It Go” official video on YouTube.
“The preliminary investigation indicates that Dayvon Bennett, aka King Von, and a group of men left the Opium Nightclub and went to the Monaco Hookah Lounge on 255 Trinity Avenue,” the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.
“Once there, two men approached the group in the parking lot, and the two groups of men started to argue with each other. The argument quickly escalated to gunfire.”
On- and off-duty Atlanta Police Department officers responded and one of each fired shots at two locations, GBI said. “During the shooting incident, six men were shot during the group altercation and officer encounter. Bennett and two men died as a result of their injuries, and three were injured and are being treated at a hospital.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident as an officer-involved shooting.
One of the officers involved was on duty nearby and two others were in uniform working off-duty security jobs at the hookah lounge. None of the officers were injured.
The Atlanta Police Department said in a statement that its officers did not kill King Von, NBC News reported.
“At this time, our investigators believe Mr. Bennett was shot during the initial shootout between the two groups of males, prior to police responding and attempting to stop the shooting,” police said in the statement.
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Police said King Von fled the scene of the shooting and arrived at a hospital shortly afterward, getting dropped off in someone’s car, TMZ reported.
During the shooting, bullets were flying in several directions across the scattered crime scene, Atlanta Police Deputy Chief Timothy Peek said. “There was an exchange of gunfire with police as well.”
Peek described the scene as “pretty chaotic,” AJC reported.
There could be additional shooting victims that have yet to turn up, Peek said. “The officers did shoot, but we want to ensure we look at the evidence and be able to prove who did what,” he said. “That’s why we are dependent on the GBI.”
