Police announce multiple arrests in Julio Foolio's fatal shooting, Internet hopes 'justice is served'

TAMPA, FLORIDA: Officials announced multiple arrests on Monday, July 29, in connection with the death of Jacksonville-based drill rapper Julio Foolio.

The announcement comes over a month after he was fatally shot in an ambush attack at a Tampa hotel parking lot on his birthday.

Police announce 'major update' in the investigation of Julio Foolio's killing 

Julio Foolio, whose real name was Charles Jones, was shot in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn on Fowler Avenue in Tampa, Florida, at around 4.40 am on June 23. Three others were injured in the incident.

Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw, Hillsborough County State Attorney Suzy Lopez, and Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters are expected to provide more details about the arrests during a press conference at 1 pm.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying it was to "announce a major update in the murder."

 

WFLA reported that police might announce multiple arrests in connection with the shooting.

Authorities believe Jones was attempting to get a room at the hotel after being kicked out of an Airbnb while celebrating his 26th birthday.

 

Julio Foolio had a significant following with over 950,000 monthly listeners. Some of his popular songs included 'Voo Doo,' 'Dead Opps. Pt 2,' 'I Hate You I Love You,' and 'Play With Me.'

Julio Foolio's family says police were getting good leads in the case 

Julio Foolio's mother, Sandrikas Mays, previously expressed her confidence in the ongoing investigation.

"The FBI detectives in Tampa, they are working every day. They are getting good leads and things of that sort," Mays said to Newsweek.

"So of course I want justice for him, and we will have justice for him. I know for a fact we will have justice for Charles. They are working day in, day out from the time I got to the scene," Mays added.

Mays mentioned that her son's career choice had led to several shooting attempts.

"We have to understand that Charles wasn't getting shot at because he killed somebody, because he robbed somebody, because anything like that," she said, adding "That's not what happened. All this happened because of rapping."

"This has been going on for over a decade, and I talked to him about these things, but these kids do what they want to do," she further told the publication.

"You can't tell them anything. Even as an adult, you can't. He'll listen to some things that I say, but he did what he wanted to do," she asserted.

Internet demands justice for Julio Foolio as police annouce arrests  

The internet reacted strongly to the news of the arrests, with many hoping for justice. Many expressed the urgency in getting these culprits off the streets while some lamaneted Foolio didn't deserve to die.

"I hope justice is served where it is deserved," wrote one user on X.

Another user said, "Culprit must be punished." A a third user added, "I [am] hoping for justice."

One more user wrote, "One day these kids gonna learn… in this day and age… you not gonna get away with killing high profile rappers…"

Another commented, "He didn’t deserve to die man," while others called for the perpetrators to be removed from the streets.

"Get them off the streets," wrote one user. "That's a great start," added another reffering to the arrests.

Mays hopes her son's death will lead to a reduction in violence in the industry. "I just want everybody to change who is in this drill scene, because it's never going to get any better," she said.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online