Crime

22-year-old Bharti Shahani has died ... making her the 9th casualty from Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival.

Shahani, who was a senior at Texas A&M University passed away Thursday after injuries sustained at the event Friday night in Houston ... according to a family attorney.

As we had reported, Shahani had previously been declared brain dead, and was on a ventilator. She had gone to Astroworld with her sister and cousin, but the two got separated during a crowd surge. Bharti had reportedly suffered several heart attacks after the crowd crush and was rushed to a local hospital.

In an emotional press conference Thursday, a rep for Bharti's family confirmed she was the woman in a video -- obtained by TMZ -- that was dropped on her head as she was carried out by first responders. The rep says they want justice for Bharti and her family ... and for whoever put profits over safety to be held accountable.

Bharti marks the latest victim in the tragedy, and it's possible more could come. As we reported, 9-year-old Ezra Blount is still hospitalized and fighting for his life. His family, with the help of civil rights attorney, Ben Crump, sued Travis and Live Nation for injuries they say were caused when Ezra was trampled.

Travis has vowed to pay for the funeral costs of the show's victims and to provide mental health services to those impacted by the events.

A rep for Travis tells us, "Over the last week, Travis Scott and his team have been actively exploring routes of connection with each and every family affected by the tragedy through the appropriate liaisons. He is distraught by the situation and desperately wishes to share his condolences and provide aid to them as soon as possible, but wants to remain respectful of each family’s wishes on how they'd best like to be connected."

The judge in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial did something that, on its face, seems pure and patriotic -- but, arguably it could also, unjustly, impact the outcome of the trial.

Judge Bruce Schroeder opened proceedings Thursday in Kenosha, WI by saying he wanted to take a moment to recognize Veterans Day. He asked if there were any military vets on the jury, or anywhere in the courtroom.

Only one person responded ... John Black, a member of Rittenhouse's defense team. Judge Schroeder then asked everyone in court to applaud Black for his service, which they did.

Now, it's Veterans Day and no one's saying Black doesn't deserve the respect. The issue here is ... because Black is the defense's use-of-force expert, should the judge solicit applause for him???

The questionable move by Judge Schroeder comes a couple of days after he ripped into the prosecutor for raising the fact Rittenhouse was silent after his arrest to jurors ... which they could read as a sign of guilt.

To be fair ... anyone with a passing knowledge of law knows you have a right to remain silent, so the prosecutor earned that tongue-lashing.

Even though Kyle Rittenhouse didn't seem to shed any actual tears on the stand, D.L. Hughley is convinced the jury will believe his "performance is real" ... and it very possibly could lead to his acquittal.

The comedian/activist's review of Rittenhouse's emotional testimony is pretty blunt -- worst acting since Stacey Dash -- but Thursday on "TMZ Live" he said it will be good enough to sway jurors because a "white dude crying with a haircut is very sympathetic."

Jokes aside, D.L. joined us Thursday on "TMZ Live" to discuss what he sees as clear biases, both in and out of the courtroom, surrounding Rittenhouse's case. First off, he says the right wing's financial support of the teenager's defense is evidence it believes "whatever you do for your cause is justified."

He also said our judicial system needs sweeping changes, and he proposed one overhaul to remove jury biases -- namely, not allowing jurors to see the defendant. That sparked an interesting debate about how our system is supposed to work ... versus how it actually does.

As for why these changes are needed -- well, D.L. believes too many people in power lack the principles to do what's right ... regardless of how it will affect them.

Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee says she was a recent target of anti-Asian hate ... claiming she was pepper-sprayed and had racist slurs hurled at her.

18-year-old Lee detailed the altercation in an interview with Pop Sugar released this week ... saying she was waiting for an Uber with her friends -- all of Asian descent -- after a night out, when a car sped by and yelled phrases like "ching chong" and "go back to where they came from."

Lee -- the first Hmong American Olympic gold medalist -- says one person even sprayed her arm with pepper spray before speeding off.

The "Dancing with the Stars" contestant opened up on the incident -- which happened a week before the interview -- saying, "I was so mad, but there was nothing I could do or control because they skirted off," she told the outlet.

The number of hate crimes directed at Asians in America has risen in recent years ... with a study at California State University, San Bernardino reporting a 150% increase in 2020.

"I didn't do anything to them," Lee added, "and having the reputation, it's so hard because I didn't want to do anything that could get me into trouble. I just let it happen."

Hours after Kyle Rittenhouse broke down on the stand and cried in front of a packed courtroom ... LeBron James trolled the 18-year-old, accusing the Kenosha shooter of putting on a show.

"What tears?????" the L.A. Lakers superstar said in a social media post. "I didn't see one. Man knock it off!"

The NBA player then took the mocking one step further ... adding three laughing emojis and writing, "That boy ate some lemon heads before walking into court."

Rittenhouse was on the stand trying to convince a courtroom that he acted in self-defense when he shot at people during an Aug. 2020 protest in Wisconsin.

The teenager -- who's been hit with multiple criminal charges, including two counts of homicide -- said, "I didn't do anything wrong. I defended myself."

Yet at one point during his testimony, he got so emotional trying to explain his actions ... he began sobbing and couldn't get words to leave his mouth.

Rittenhouse broke down in front of the microphone -- forcing a short break in the proceedings -- but James clearly believed it was all a ruse to try to draw sympathy.

The rest of Rittenhouse's hearing, meanwhile, also featured some drama ... with the judge in the courtroom admonishing prosecutors over the way they questioned Rittenhouse.

The officials had asked Rittenhouse about an incident that the judge had previously ruled would not be permitted as evidence ... and after Rittenhouse's attorneys objected, judge Bruce Schroeder exploded.

"You know very well that an attorney can't go into these types of areas when the judge has already ruled without asking outside the presence of the jury to do so," the judge said, accusing the prosecutor of "getting brazen" with him.

"So, don't give me that."

Rittenhouse's attorneys asked for a mistrial over it all.

Dalvin Cook is innocent until proven guilty ... and NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe says people need to remember that as the Minnesota Vikings running back faces serious allegations of domestic violence made by his ex-girlfriend.

As we previously reported, the 26-year-old is accused of assaulting and threatening to kill his ex, U.S. Army veteran Gracelyn Trimble, in 2020 ... but he claims he's actually the victim.

TMZ Sports spoke with Sharpe about the situation, and he says the masses have to reserve judgment until Cook goes through the legal process ... but they won't.

"Man, this is really tough because my heart goes out to all abused," Sharpe tells us. "But, I mean, now we just don't even get a chance to prove innocence or nothing. We just automatically assume."

"Everybody says, 'I hear that.' We should have our day in court and we should have this. But, that's not what we do. We automatically rush to judgment."

Sharpe adds he hopes the allegations made against Cook aren't true.

"I'm just not trying to convict people in the court of the public opinion without them having their due process," he added.

As for Cook, he told reporters "the truth will come out" and he fully intends to play on Sunday ... but Sharpe would be surprised if that happens.

TMZ Sports has obtained multiple 911 calls made moments after Henry Ruggs allegedly caused a fatal car crash ... with one witness telling an operator she believed a person was trapped in the burning truck.

A female caller who said she lives near the scene of the accident claimed she was in bed when she heard the crash, and when she looked at the crash site, all she saw were flames.

"It's almost all gone," she said of the fire-engulfed vehicle, continuing, "and I think someone is in it."

The woman is clearly panicked ... and pleading with the 911 operator to get help to the scene.

The woman also said she heard what she described as "kids just yelling for help."

But, she said the flames were so high "you can't get near it."

In the second call, a man, who heard, but didn't see the crash, told authorities, "I want to say the [Corvette] was probably speeding. I mean, I heard loud revving, loud noises, and then a big collision."

The man horrifyingly said he also thought he heard yelping coming from a dog inside of the burning vehicle.

Of course, in addition to 23-year-old Tina Tintor dying in the wreck, her golden retriever, Max, also perished.

The second caller also speculated that he suspected Ruggs and his GF were under the influence ... though he didn't elaborate why he suspected they were impaired.

As we previously reported, 22-year-old Ruggs was hit with 5 charges including 4 felonies for his role in the crash.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed -- the armorer for "Rust" -- is doubling down, claiming she was targeted for sabotage and she thinks she's now being framed ... this according to her lawyer.

Gutierrez-Reed's attorney Jason Bowles tells TMZ ... "We are convinced that this was sabotage and Hannah is being framed." This is a step beyond what Bowles said earlier in the week ... he alleged sabotage, but didn't say it was targeted at his client.

But, Bowles wasn't done ... he added, "We believe that the scene was tampered with as well before the police arrived."

It's interesting ... this comes hours after the D.A. scoffed at the sabotage claim, saying no such evidence has surfaced.

Hannah's lawyer says his client met with Santa Fe County Deputy Sherriff's Tuesday, providing a full interview and continuing to cooperate.

Her legal team says more info keeps coming out that the D.A. needs to investigate, and they want the D.A. and FBI to get to the bottom of what happened with the live rounds they claim ended up in the "dummies" box.

Of course, there's another explanation ... that someone was target practicing during the lunch break and failed to take the live ammo out of the chamber.

A teenage girl was leveled by a sucker punch in the middle of a basketball game Sunday ... and the violent swing was all captured on video.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the incident went down during a youth basketball game in Garden Grove, Calif. -- after a 15-year-old had bumped into a girl following her jump shot.

In footage of the play, you can see as both girls got back to their feet after the collision -- someone from the crowd appeared to yell, "You better hit her."

That's when the girl in the all-black uniform swung a massive left haymaker that connected with the other girl's throat and face area.

Immediately, the girl crashed to the floor in pain ... and we're told the game was stopped and then eventually canceled over the incident.

The punch victim's mother tells us the girl was injured on the play -- and is suffering from the after-effects so much, she still has yet to return to school.

The girl's mom also tells us she went to cops over it all ... though it's unclear if a criminal investigation is underway.

The key gaffer on "Rust" is now taking legal action against Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and Dave Halls ... suing them over the fatal shooting that killed Halyna Hutchins.

Serge Svetnoy just filed suit against the above-mentioned individuals -- as well as others -- claiming the defendants' alleged negligence caused him severe emotional distress in the aftermath of it all.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Svetnoy claims the bullet that struck both Hutchins and director Joel Souza actually zoomed by and nearly hit him too. Not just that, but the gaffer claims he was one of the first people on hand to tend to Halyna while she was profusely bleeding ... attempting to comfort her and keep her conscious.

As for why he's suing Baldwin, the suit claims he "owed a duty to the Plaintiff and other crew members and actors on the 'Rust' set to handle the Colt Revolver provided to him by defendant Halls with reasonable care and diligence for the safety of 'Rust' cast and crew." It goes on to say, "This duty called for Defendant Baldwin to double-check the Colt Revolver with Halls upon being handled to ensure that it did not contain live ammunition."

And, it goes on ... "This duty further called for him [Baldwin] to handle the Colt Revolver as if it was loaded and to refrain from pointing it at anyone." In other words, the suit claims negligence on Baldwin's part.

And, there's this ... according to the lawsuit, the scene Baldwin was rehearsing did not call for him to pull the trigger. According to the lawsuit, the scene called for Baldwin to draw the gun and point it in the general direction of the camera, but, "the scene did not call for Defendant Baldwin to shoot the Colt Revolver."

The suit also claims Baldwin was negligent as a producer on "Rust," saying, "... they attempted to save money by hiring an insufficient number of crew members to safely handle the props and firearms ..." It goes on to claim there were other lapses on the set, including violating industry norms, declining requests for weapons training days, failing to allow proper time to allow for gunfire, failing to send out safety bulletins and spreading the staff too thin.

The suit also claims the target practice that was going on shortly before the tragedy was "outrageous."

Svetnoy says he'd known Halyna for 5 years and considered her a good friend.

The ordeal was absolutely traumatic, so says Svetnoy, and has since left him in utter mental anguish ... to the point he feels he might not ever be able to get over it.

The Minnesota Vikings are still allowing Dalvin Cook to practice with the team ... this despite new allegations that he roughed up his ex-GF during a violent Nov. 2020 incident.

Vikes head coach Mike Zimmer just revealed the news ... saying Cook will work out with the team Wednesday.

Zimmer added that, as of now, the star running back is slated to be available to play in Minnesota's game against the Chargers on Sunday as planned too.

Of course, it's a surprising announcement ... considering Cook's ex, Gracelyn Trimble, has accused the football player of being violent with her on multiple occasions since 2018.

In a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports, Tremble says Cook got physical with her throughout their relationship -- including a Nov. 19, 2020 incident in which she claims he left her a bloody mess.

During the alleged confrontation ... Trimble says Cook hit her repeatedly and even at one point aimed a gun at her head and told her she was going to die.

For his part, Cook -- through his representatives -- has denied the allegations ... and claimed he was actually the victim in the situation, adding that Trimble was attempting to extort him.

The NFL has said it's investigating it all ... explaining in a statement this week, "The matter will be reviewed under the personal conduct policy. We will continue to monitor developments but there's no change to [Cook's] status."

Travis Scott might act like he didn't know how bad things really were at this year's Astroworld Fest -- but his own posts and words demonstrate ... the dude knew how his fans got down, and often encouraged them to risk their safety.

There are a number of still photos Trav has posted on his Instagram account from over the years that show fans of his injured to varying degrees ... from what appears to be simply attending concerts of his.

Many of the times he spotlighted a certain individual who was injured ... and seemed to glorify and glamorize it, with captions like ... "SHE BROKE HER HAND AND SHE DOESN'T GIVE A F***!!!" or "IT'S NOT A SHOW UNTIL SOMEONE PASS OUT."

Here's another one that's especially cringeworthy in light of this weekend's tragedy -- it's a post of a young man laid out on the floor, presumably from one of Travis' shows, with the rapper writing, "TO THE KID THAT DIDN'T SURVIVE THE RODEO. UR A HERO IN MU BOOK."

BTW, a lot of these posts are still up on the guy's IG page as of this posting ... which is even more telling. Frankly, this whole "rage" mentality is part of Travis' brand, image and artistic identity ... except now, people are seeing how unsafe and reckless it really is.

Travis has gotten in trouble in the past for encouraging people to rush the stage. In 2015, he pleaded guilty to charges of reckless conduct stemming from an incident at Lollapalooza. In 2017, he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after law enforcement said he incited a riot at a show in Arkansas.

Put aside the fact he's been arrested/cited at least twice for inciting a riot. The real criticism doesn't necessarily lie in him getting his fans hyped ... but more so, him taking things too far, and seemingly, more often than not, refusing to lower the temperature in the room. That has led to lots of his fans getting hurt in his presence. And, even when he does acknowledge an injured person on the spot, it often comes off cold and callous.

The same scrutiny applies for this year's Astroworld Fest -- namely, there appeared to be moments when he acknowledged people were going down, but didn't bring things to a halt.

In one instance that's been captured on video from multiple angles, Travis clearly sees the ambulance cart working its way through the crowd, pauses for a bit, gets approached by some guys whom he shoos away ... and then proceeded to incite the crowd.

That's now the big question ... how much did Travis Scott know ... and when? He claims he was unaware people were dying at the show that night and didn't realize the severity of the situation.

Terrence J told cops he escaped what appears to be an attempted robbery just outside his home ... and he also says the alleged suspects fired shots at him.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the actor and TV host was pulling into his driveway in Sherman Oaks around 3 AM when another car pulled up with 4 Black men inside, one of whom ordered Terrence out of his car.

We're told he refused the command, and took off in his car -- and Terrence told cops the suspects chased him and fired at his car ... before they fled.

Our sources say Terrence, who hosts shows on BET and MTV, then flagged down a passing California Highway Patrol car, who called the LAPD.

The D.A. heading up the investigation into the fatal "Rust" shooting seems sure of one thing, but says the biggest mystery remains unsolved -- how live ammo ended up on the set.

Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies talked to 'GMA' Wednesday to answer about the ongoing investigation into how Halyna Hutchins ended getting shot and killed, and had to admit she still doesn't have much clarity about the live ammunition.

However, she did acknowledge there were multiple live bullets -- beyond the one that killed Halyna -- found on set ... just one of the "Rust" conditions she found alarming.

One thing she did appear ready to dispel was the notion that sabotage might've been at play -- a theory floated by head armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's, own legal team just a week ago.

Check out how the D.A. responds ... while she says there's no evidence thus far to suggest anything like that occurred, Carmack-Atlwies doesn't completely rule it out as a possibility -- nor does she look the other way on what potential sabotage could mean criminally.

Indeed, if the evidence supported any sort of purposeful intent behind bringing bullets on set and/or mixing them into the box of dummy rounds Gutierrez-Reed dipped into to load Alec Baldwin's gun ... the D.A. says a higher murder charge could be on the table.

Like she noted the last time she held a press conference ... no one's off the table at this point as far as possible charges, and she reaffirms here.

A woman claiming to have dated Dalvin Cook throughout the past 3 years says the NFL star beat the hell out of her in Nov. 2020 ... leaving her a scratched, bruised and bloody mess.

But, the Minnesota Vikings running back is adamant he's actually the victim ... and the woman is now attempting to extort him.

U.S. Army veteran Gracelyn Trimble spelled out the troubling accusations in a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports ... saying she met Cook on a beach in Florida in 2018 and began dating the football player a short time later.

Trimble, though, says in the docs that in March 2020 ... the relationship took a turn for the worse.

Trimble claims Cook had gotten her pregnant, but she suffered a miscarriage -- and while in the hospital dealing with it all, she says Cook was cheating on her.

Trimble says that led to a "physically violent argument" between the two, where she claims Cook pushed her -- resulting in their break-up.

But, Trimble says less than 3 months later, they rekindled their romance and started living together in Florida ... and also shared space in Minnesota, where Cook was living during the Vikings' season.

Trimble, though, says in mid-November, the two got into an argument at the Mall of America, and when they returned home, Cook punched her and threw her to the ground.

Because of Cook's alleged history of violence, Trimble says she stored mace in his garage.

Shortly after the altercation, Trimble says she then learned Cook was again cheating on her ... so she decided to confront him, gather her things and end the relationship.

On Nov. 19, 2020, Trimble claims in the docs she entered Cook's home through the garage, grabbed the mace and headed inside to pack up her belongings.

Inside the home, Trimble claims she asked Cook for help packing up her belongings -- but he got mad, "grabbed her arm, and slung her whole body over the couch, slamming her face into the coffee table and causing her lower forehead and the bridge of her nose to bust open and start gushing blood."

Trimble claims she then attempted to defend herself by macing Cook, but he overpowered her, and the mace primarily got in her eyes.

After briefly going outside, Trimble says she went upstairs and attempted to take a shower in order to wash the mace out of her eyes -- but she claims she was again confronted by Cook ... saying the NFL star picked her up and slammed her on the floor. She claims she hit the corner of a bed in the room, which caused a deep gash on her arm.

Trimble claims Cook then pinned her to the ground and told her she was "going to die." She then claims Cook punched and choked her and then grabbed a gun and pointed it at her head "all while yelling death threats."

Trimble says in the docs Cook eventually put the gun down, but kept her pinned to the ground.

The woman says Cook let her up -- and she was able to get into the shower to try to wash the blood off of her. But, she says their violent altercation continued after she finished in the bathroom.

Trimble says she went downstairs where she and Cook began to argue again -- before she claims Dalvin began beating her with a broomstick.

"Despite having been a soldier in active combat," the documents read, "where she had missiles and bullets fired at her, Trimble feared for her life like she had never before."

Trimble claims the beating continued as she attempted to crawl away from Cook to get help, but she says Cook would not let her go.

Trimble claims despite begging Cook to call police or an ambulance, he held her against her will for hours -- before eventually taking her to the airport.

After returning to Florida, Trimble says she didn't initially go to the hospital because she wanted to protect Cook ... but on Nov. 25, she claims she realized her injuries were severe, so she went to the emergency room.

While there, she says she told doctors she was in an ATV accident ... and they diagnosed her with a concussion and "several deep cuts and bruising."

Trimble claims Cook profusely apologized after the incident, but they did not see each other for about a month until a death in Cook's family -- which she claims brought the couple back together.

But, Trimble says the relationship eventually broke down again -- and they called things off.

Cook's attorney, however, claimed in a statement to TMZ Sports on Tuesday that he's actually the victim ... and said shortly after the two began dating, she "became emotionally abusive, physically aggressive and confrontational, and repeatedly attempted to provoke" him.

Cook accused Trimble of damaging his car, assaulting him and attempting to "stop him from seeing other women" throughout their relationship.

We also talked to Dalvin's agent, Zac Hiller, who told us regarding the Nov. 19, 2020 incident that "[Trimble] showed up at [Dalvin's] house, illegally entered, punched him in the face, maced him, armed herself with a gun, and held him and his 2 house guests hostage."

Cook and his attorney claim they actually have video from the incident that they say shows she was the aggressor.

Cook's attorney added that any injuries Trimble suffered during the altercation were "the result of Sgt. Trimble's own unlawful conduct."

"We are confident a full disclosure of the facts will show Mr. Cook did nothing wrong," Cook's attorney said.

Travis Scott says he didn't know a calamity was unfolding when he was onstage Friday at Astroworld ... and we found out when he left, he went straight to Dave & Buster's for an after-party.

Sources connected to Travis tell TMZ ... the rapper was never told at the festival people had died in the crowd and hundreds more were injured. The sources say, "Travis didn't know the severity of the situation when he arrived at the party, as far as timing, this remains consistent with the fact that no one including the police had publicly confirmed the gravity of the events that had taken place."

The person who threw the after-party -- Drake, who had performed with Travis as a surprise guest just as the tragedy was unfolding. Our Drake sources claim he also didn't have a clue there were people dying in the crowd.

As we reported, there were a number of people who were pleading with camera operators and others to stop the show as the crowd crush took its toll, which is why a lot of people think Travis had to know what was going on ... if not during the concert, before he left. However, our Travis sources insist he was at least 50 yards from that camera operator and did not hear the pleas to end the show because fans were dying.

But, we're told when someone told Travis at Dave & Buster's about the tragedy, he immediately left the party. This seems to support the notion he didn't know ... even when he left the venue.

TMZ broke the story ... Travis has pledged to pay funeral costs for his 8 fans who died at the festival and provide mental health services to anyone who may have been affected.

As we reported, lawsuits continue to pour in against both Travis and Live Nation ... including one filed Tuesday by the family of a 9-year-old boy who is fighting for his life after being trampled at the show.

For his part, Drake released a statement Monday night, saying, "My heart is broken for the families and friends of those who lost their lives and for anyone who is suffering. I will continue to pray for all of them and will be of service in any way I can. May God be with you all."