Atlanta rapper Lil Phat gunned down in hospital parking lot
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Atlanta rapper Lil Phat was gunned down in the parking lot of a Georgia hospital, police said Friday, as they hunted two men seen running from the scene.
The rapper -- real name Melvin Vernell III -- was killed about 6:40pm Thursday outside Northside Hospital in Sandy Springs north of Atlanta, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Vernell, 19, was found dead in a vehicle after gunfire was heard by hospital staff. A motive was not yet known.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A policeman said one of the two black men seen running away from the parking lot was short, wearing a red shirt, while the second was a tall man dressed in all black.
State Sen. Charlie Bethel (R-Dalton) was visiting a patient at the hospital at the time and was among a group of visitors corralled for two hours in an empty room.
"As we arrived, there was a disturbance in the parking lot," he told the Journal-Constitution. "Another family said that as they were beginning to leave, they heard shots and were hurried back into the hospital."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lil Phat was best known for his appearance on the 2008 hit "Independent" by Webbie and Lil Boosie, MTV.com reported.