Rapper gunned down in car park in ‘targeted hit’ as police hunt attackers

The 24-year-old was pronounced dead en route to the hospital with police seeking two men who fled the scene in a SUV

A rapper was fatally gunned down in an apparent targeted hit in a shopping centre car park.

Omer Niaz Muhammad, known to fans as Lil OT, was shot at around 10.10pm on Monday, with witnesses reporting hearing three loud bangs. After being shot, the 24-year-old was rushed to hospital but died en route from an apparent gunshot wound to the neck.

Police are now seeking two men who fled the scene in a white SUV, as reported by NeedToKnow. The horror unfolded in the car park of the Kelseys Original Roadhouse restaurant at the Burlington Centre mall in Ontario, Canada. Police believe Muhammad, who lived locally in Burlington, was specifically targeted. No description of the suspects has been provided.

“We do believe this was a targeted incident and we do not believe there is any known risk to public safety,” Constable Jeff Dillon told local media on Tuesday. “Unfortunately one young man lost his life.

“When you are in a wide open parking lot like this and a gun is fired, it was lucky that nobody else was struck. It shows a rampant disregard for anyone else who may have been here.”

The motive for the shooting remains unclear with police still working to determine the relationship between the victim and suspects, and if this incident is connected to any previous shootings in Halton.

Local media say Muhammad previously survived a 2023 drive-by shooting at his family’s home in Hamilton, where he grew up, escaping unhurt.

The gunman, his former friend Ahmed Issak-Hussan, remains in prison awaiting sentencing. Muhammad also previously served around 18 months in prison on gun charges.Officers are urging anyone with relevant information to come forward.

Muhammad had released two albums JamesVille (2023) and Written in Stone (2025) with 23,578 monthly listeners on Spotify and had 28,600 Instagram followers at the time of writing. The music video for his 2023 track Violence has racked up more than 272,000 views on YouTube and had 911,913 plays on Spotify.

In Instagram comments on Lil OT’s page, fans and friends shared their farewells.“Rest in peace, brother,” one wrote, as others posted dove and broken heart emojis.

One shopper at the mall said she was shocked by the news of the murder. “You hear about these things in the bigger cities, but you are not expecting it to happen in your community,” she said. This is Burlington’s first homicide of the year.

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