Spice 1 Shot and Wounded In Driveway

HAYWARD — The 37-year-old Hayward man shot Monday while sleeping in his car has been identified as Bay Area rapper Spice 1, whose real name is Robert Green.

Green was seriously wounded in the shooting and is recovering at a local hospital, Hayward Police Lt. Reid Lindblom said.

Lindblom said that Green has been interviewed at the hospital by detectives but did not have additional details.

"He said he dozed off in his car," Lindblom said. "He guessed he had been in his car for about 30 minutes."

Green apparently had been been sleeping in his car in the driveway of a house on the 26000 block of Chiplay Avenue when, at about 12:30 a.m., he became aware that someone was standing next to the vehicle. A shot was fired through the car window, and Green was hit in the chest, according to Lindblom.

Green then went into his house and family members called 9-1-1, he said.

Nothing was stolen from the victim or taken from the vehicle. The shooter was described as a white or Hispanic male about 5 feet 7 inches tall and dressed all in black.

Lindblom said investigators do not have a suspect or a motive for the shooting. Investigators are processing his vehicle for evidence, he said.

Green's manager, Scott Bibiano, who goes by the nickname "Six," said Tuesday that the residence belongs to Green's parents. Bibiano said that Green is in critical condition and has been through surgery.

Bibiano added that Green's parents have been with Green and that they are holding up well.

Green has released more than a dozen albums since the early 1990s; his latest, "Thug Association," was released earlier this year.

Bibiano said that he and Green were in Las Cruces, N.M., and El Paso, Texas, over the weekend for performances.

"He is well respected in the rap community," Bibiano said of Green. "He is one of the icons, one of the fathers that started it in the Bay Area."

Green has worked with several high-profile rappers, including East Bay rapper "Too Short," as well as Tupac Shakur, who was shot and killed in 1996.

The Associated Press also reported Tuesday that 33-year-old rapper Chad Butler, known as "Pimp C," was found dead in a Los Angeles hotel room on Tuesday. Butler collaborated with Green in the past.

Hayward City Councilwoman Doris Rodriquez lives around the block from where Green was shot. She said she did not know Green, but was unnerved by the shooting.

"It's pretty close to home," she said. "It's always been a fairly quiet neighborhood, but periodically things have happened."

She said neighbors recently formed a Neighborhood Watch due to shootings and a firebombing that occurred in the neighborhood earlier this year.

Anyone with additional information is encouraged to call the Hayward Police Department at 510-293-7000.

Source: insidebayarea.com