Memphis rapper and Billboard Top 10 artist Young Dolph died at a cookie shop on Airways Boulevard after being fatally shot Wednesday, Nov. 17, spurring an outpouring of grief from fans and a call from the city’s police chief for citizens to stay at home Wednesday evening. 

“Tonight, we strongly encourage everyone to stay home if you don’t have to be out,” MPD Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis said during an evening press briefing. “We also strongly encourage everyone to remain calm as we actively perform our investigation.”

Dolph, 36, whose real name was Adolph Robert Thornton Jr., was at Makeda’s Cookies, 2370 Airways Blvd., following a morning Thanksgiving turkey giveaway in the Westwood area of southwest Memphis, according to his cousin, Mareno Myers.

Memphis Police said in a tweet that officers arrived at the scene at 12:24 p.m. and found one male victim. MPD said preliminary information was that the victim was Thornton but that the information would be confirmed “once the identification process has been completed.”

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Davis said MPD was increasing its presence Wednesday evening at locations that could be a target for retaliation. Her comment came against a backdrop of social media chatter that Prive restaurant, reportedly owned by Memphis rapper Yo Gotti, was targeted. 

Davis said she had not vetted social media posts but that a lot of them were erroneous. 

She also said police continue to investigate but had no suspect or motive in Thornton’s shooting as of Wednesday evening. 

“We are committed to working with the community to stop these senseless murders,” Davis said. “We are also dedicated to bringing those responsible for today’s shooting and others to justice.”

Before Davis’ remarks, various elected leaders were calling for a voluntary curfew Wednesday evening in an effort to quell any possible violence.

“We are taking all of these requests into consideration and we’re continuing to communicate with our city officials and evaluate the situation so that we can make the best decision and it doesn’t mean that we won’t have a curfew at some point and time, but right now the deployment of officers in the specific areas that are impacted the most will be enough presence for tonight,” the chief said. 

Myers, Thornton’s cousin, said Thornton had been in town since Monday visiting an aunt who has cancer. He said more turkey giveaways had been planned.

“He was inside (Makeda’s), and somebody just rolled up on him and took his life,” Myers said.

He said Thornton stopped at Makeda’s because he was a fan of the store.

Myers said another turkey giveaway was planned for Friday in the Castalia neighborhood where Thornton grew up. He said the rapper’s record label, Paper Route Empire, and his Ida Mae Foundation, named after his grandmother, will likely still hold the giveaway.

“Dolph would want us to go through with it,” Myers said. “The music can’t compare to his heart. He loved helping people.”

Raven Winton’s family owns Makeda’s and said Thornton always came to the store when he was in town. He always ordered chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream, she said.

“I hate this happened,” Winton said.

She said she and her mother were at their Downtown location when they got the news of the shooting.

“My dad was yelling in the phone ‘he gone, he gone,’ ” she said.

She and her mother went to the Airways Boulevard store, where they learned it was Thornton who had died. “He was the sweetest guy,” she said. “This is senseless.”

Kristy Williams of Memphis said she heard about the slaying and came to the scene because she’s a fan of his music.

“It’s horrible,” Williams said. “A week before Thanksgiving and he’s out here doing something for the community. This is bad.”

Brianna Sim, another fan, said the rapper’s death was “devastating.” She said she has listened to his music since his first song came out, and his songs are still the ones she listens to every day right after waking up.

Bryana Maclin, who has listened to his music for more than 10 years and met him last year, said she was sad and hurt when hearing the news.

“I can’t even express how important he is to me,” she said.

Dozens of people lined an area near the fence overlooking Makeda’s as police worked in the parking lot.

Shelby County Commissioner Van Turner was at the scene and said the slaying should be a wake-up call to the community about ongoing gun violence.

Thornton’s parents and grandmother, along with other friends and family, gathered inside a white pickup near the cookie store.

Thornton, who made his recording label debut in 2016, picked up some chocolate chip cookies from Makeda’s just last week and was featured on the business’ Instagram account. 

Makeda’s is on the east side of Airways near the intersection with Ball Road, a short distance north of Interstate 240.

Young Dolph was a popular artist among Memphis basketball teams, making appearances at several Grizzlies games, including performing at halftime of last season’s first-round postseason game against the Utah Jazz. He also narrated the team’s postseason hype video and appeared at Memphis Madness in 2019.

Editor’s Note: Due to the nature of this event, comments have been turned off for this story.