The police officer partially responsible for giving us Lil Wayne, one of the greatest rappers who has ever lived, has died.
The retired New Orleans Police Department officer saved the rap star when he was a child after he shot himself in the chest during a botched suicide attempt.
Robert Hoobler was found dead at his home on Friday (July 22nd) at 65. So far, the police have not disclosed the cause of Hoobler’s death.
The five-time Grammy Award winner attempted to kill himself at the age of 12 after his mother, Jacida Carter, found out he was skipping school.
The rapper was so scared that he called the police and went and found his mother’s gun.
According to Wayne, he was too scared to shoot himself in the head, so he aimed for his heart and shot himself in the chest on November 11th, 1994.
When the officers finally arrived, most skipped over the 12-year-old as he lay bleeding on the floor. Lil Wayne explained the situation in a note to honor Dr. Martin Luther King in January 2021.
“There was a bunch of black cops jumped over me when they saw me at that door, laying on the floor with that hole in my chest,” Lil Wayne revealed.
However, Robert Hoobler, whom Wayne referred to as “Uncle Bob,” took critical action to save the future rap star’s life.
“Those black cops jumped over me, and ran through the crib, and said, ‘We found the gun, we found this, we found that.’ He said, ‘I found this baby on this floor. I need to get to a hospital.’ He didn’t wait for an ambulance. He took his car. He made somebody drive it, and he made sure that I lived,” Lil Wayne said.
The rapper was so thankful that in 2019, Wayne told Uncle Bob that if he needed anything, all he had to do was say the word.
The rapper also offered to provide Uncle Bob with financial support if he needed it.