'Suge' Knight shot at pre-VMAs party

Rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight was shot early Sunday morning at a pre-MTV Video Music Awards party, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department confirmed to USA TODAY.

"Early stages of the investigation indicated that the person known as 'Suge' Knight has been identified as one of several victims of this shooting that occurred in West Hollywood," says Deputy Jeff Gordon.

Gordon confirmed two other victims: a 32-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman. The shooting occurred after 1:30 a.m. PT Sunday, Gordon says.

Knight remains in intensive care after undergoing surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, TMZ says.

There is no confirmation of how many shots were fired, Gordon says. "We're still in the early stages of this investigation and don't have any updates at this time," he says.

Shots struck Death Row Records co-founder Knight, 49, at a nightclub party hosted by VMAs nominee Chris Brown at 1 Oak on Sunset Boulevard and attended by apl.de.ap of the Black Eyed Peas and model Tyson Beckford. Justin Bieber was photographed earlier in the evening at another pre-party hosted by Brown, but it's unknown whether he went to the club event.

Video posted at TMZ shows Knight getting into a police car after the shooting.

"The family of Suge Knight ask that you keep Suge in your prayers and to stray away from the negativity portrayed by the media," Knight's family said in a statement to Revolt TV's website. "Suge is currently resting and has lost a lot of blood, he's human. He's done a lot of things for the community and the culture as a whole so we ask that you respect that."

Brown referred to the incident on Twitter Sunday morning, tweeting, "It's disappointing that we as a society can't have fun or enjoy ourselves without any altercations sometimes."

His reps issued a statement to USA TODAY, saying, "Chris hosted an event in Los Angeles last night to celebrate the upcoming release of his album X, during which an incident occurred. This incident did not involve Chris; he was merely the host of the event. He has and will continue to cooperate with the investigation."

MTV also issued a statement to USA TODAY, saying, "MTV has no affiliation nor is connected to this event in any way."

No additional information has been released about the other shooting victims.

"In compliance with strict federal and state privacy laws, we do not confirm or deny anything about patients, including whether someone even received treatment here," Laura Coverson, senior media specialist at Cedars-Sinai, told USA TODAY.

Knight founded Death Row Records with Dr. Dre in 1991, signing artists such as Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur and MC Hammer. In 1996, he was in the car with Shakur when the rapper was fatally shot in Las Vegas.

Knight was shot in the leg by an unknown gunman at a pre-VMAs party in 2005, hosted by Kanye West in Miami Beach.

Contributing: The Associated Press