3 men wounded in shooting after rap concert in Denver area

DENVER - Authorities searched on Friday for a man who fired a rifle at a vehicle carrying Los Angeles rapper Schoolboy Q in the parking lot of a Colorado amphitheater after his performance at a concert headlined by Nas, wounding three other men in the car.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said Schoolboy Q was not injured and that it was not releasing the identities of the victims nor their relationship to the 27-year-old rapper, whose real name is Quincey Matthew Hanley.

Police say the white sport utility vehicle that was targeted after Thursday night's concert sped away from the Red Rocks venue in Morrison, near Denver, and was stopped a short time later with three wounded people inside.

The sheriff's office said three adult males in the car were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries, and that one of them was released on Friday.

Authorities say none of the victims were performers at the concert. Schoolboy Q went on Twitter in an apparent effort to reassure fans by saying, "im str8...... dont trip."

The sheriff's office was looking for a man armed with a rifle, and asked any concert-goers who made video recordings backstage or at the nearby Red Rocks Trading Post between 9 pm and 11 pm to get in touch.

"The suspect fled the immediate scene on foot. It is unknown if he left the area in a vehicle," it said in a statement.

Red Rocks Amphitheater, where the Beatles played during their first US tour in 1964, is a popular outdoor concert venue set among red sandstone outcroppings in the foothills about 15 miles (24 km) west of Denver.

Thursday's headliner Nas, the New York-born son of jazz musician Olu Dara, is one of the biggest names in rap and has sold more than 20 million records worldwide since his 1994 debut album "Illmatic."

The venue said a concert by electronic music DJ Skrillex set for Friday night would go ahead as planned, and that its visitors centre and the amphitheatre opened as usual on Friday although the south parking lot and Trading Post remained closed.