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Lil Wayne mourns death of Louisiana cop who saved his life. ‘U refused to let me die’
Lil Wayne posted a tribute on Instagram to the police officer who saved his life when he accidentally shot himself as a young boy.
Robert Hoobler, a retired New Orleans police officer, was found dead on July 22, according to Mark Bone of the Jefferson Parish coroner’s officer. Hoobler, 65, died of natural causes in his home in Jefferson, about 6 miles outside of New Orleans, Bone told McClatchy News.
In 1994, Hoobler responded to a report of a 12-year-old who had shot himself with a handgun in his mother’s New Orleans apartment, according to NOLA.com. Hoobler was off duty at the time, but went to the apartment and kicked down the door. Inside, he found the boy, whose given name is Dwayne Carter Jr., bleeding on the floor.
Hoobler called for an ambulance, but none were available, so he loaded the future rapper into the backseat of a police cruiser and a colleague drove them to a hospital, according to The Guardian.
Nurses and doctors at the hospital told the officers that had they waited for an ambulance or gone to a different hospital, Carter would have died, NOLA.com reported.
Carter, who joined Cash Money Records at 9 years old, according to Pitchfork, went on to win five Grammys and found his own record label, Young Money.
On July 25, the rapper shared a photo of Hoobler, who he calls “Uncle Bob” on his Instagram. The photo shows Hoobler in 2009 on the porch where the young rapper shot himself, according to NOLA.com.
“Everything happens for a reason,” Lil Wayne. “I was dying when I met (you) at this very spot.
“(You) refused to let me die,” he wrote. “Everything that doesn’t happen, doesn’t happen for a reason. That reason being you and faith. RIP uncle Bob.”
Fans also reacted to Hoobler’s death on social media.
“You don’t know how many lives you changed just by saving one,” wrote one Twitter user called @GoldMoufDawg311 wrote.
“Hip hop wouldn’t be the same without Wayne,” wrote another user called @_fromkobby. “RIP to Uncle Bob for saving the GOAt’s life.”
Lil Wayne spoke about his near-death experience and Hoobler’s actions at the 2018 BET hip hop awards.
“A bunch of police hopped over me and refused to do something,” he said. ”He refused to wait, he kicked in the doors, he said, ‘You do whatever you gotta do to make sure this child makes it.’
“Not only did he just get me to the doctors, he refused to leave,” he said. “He stayed and made sure that I made it.”
Lil Wayne told the audience that he’d seen Hoobler multiple times since and tried to pay for his meal or offer him financial assistance, but the retired officer always refused his offer.
This story was originally published July 25, 2022, 6:33 PM.
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