The American Rapper julio Foolio narrowly escaped three near-fatal shootings in the span of four years before tragically being shot and killed on his 26th birthday.
The Jacksonville-based hitmaker, who went by the name Julio Foolio but whose real name is Charles Jones, was pronounced dead at the scene in the early hours of Sunday morning, June 23.
Three other people were injured in the incident and taken to local hospitals
It wasn’t the List of Dead Opps hitmaker’s first brush with death.
In July 2020, he was shot while in Houston, Texas. He ended up in hospital and filmed a video live from his bed, telling fans: “An ******* shot me, but didn’t kill me.”
Just a year later in 2021, the star was injured after getting out of his vehicle in Jacksonville, Florida.
He said he got “grazed in the leg” at the time, and admitted: “I shot back in self-defence. My gun is registered. If I did something illegal the police would put me in jail.”
Foolio claimed he was shot at “100 times” during the 2021 incident. Police said Foolio reported multiple shots in the area, explaining to officers that he took two of his own guns and returned fire on the suspects, who were travelling in a “dark-coloured truck or SUV”.
In October 2023, Foolio was shot again, suffering a serious gunshot wound and breaking multiple bones in his left foot after he was targeted by assailants in Florida.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said at the time: “It appears that the suspect or suspects were waiting for the victim and ambushed him.”
Sadly, Fookio was killed on June 23, 2024, after being fatally shot at his birthday celebration.
Also, in February 2019, Foolio’s little brother Adrian Dennard Gainer Jr, who went by the name Bibby, was shot and killed at the age of just 16 at an apartment complex in the Moncrief area.
Bibby’s mum Elizabeth Gainer told an assembled crowd after his death: “I am going to rock the hell out of Duval County for my baby. Whoever had anything to do with this shooting, you hurt the wrong baby. He was loved and he loved us. He had a mother and a father, grandparents, aunts. He was no thug and he is no gangster!”
Now Foolio’s girlfriend has paid tribute to him amid his own tragic death, writing online: “Y’all took my boyfriend from me. I hate y’all & I won’t be the only one crying [broken heart emoji].”
One police officer on the scene told WFLA Now: “What we have learned […] is that two cars were shot at, four people were shot in total as a result of this. Three of them were transported to hospitals and one was pronounced deceased here on the scene.
“We are working to learn what led up to the shooting, motive… As far as the people who are at local hospitals, we are working to get an update on their condition.”