Young Scooter has died after a confrontation with officers from the Atlanta Police Department. The rapper passed away on Friday (March 28), which also marked his 39th birthday. APD says Scooter, real name Kenneth Bailey, was taken to the hospital before succumbing to his injuries.
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According to 11Alive, the Fulton County Medical Examiner confirmed that the man killed on Friday was Young Scooter. As more details about the case become public, Scooter’s eldest son, fans, and celebrity peers like Quavo and ATL Jacob have begun to speak out.
Atlanta Police Reveals What Happened To Young Scooter
Late Friday, Lt. Andrew Smith and the APD Homicide Commander held a press conference to explain what led to Kenneth Bailey’s death. Smith revealed that officers pulled up to a southeast area of Atlanta in Zone 3 after receiving a call about shots fired and a woman allegedly being dragged into a residence. That part of the investigation is ongoing, given that APD has not located said woman. “We have not been able to substantiate any of that,” Lt. Smith said of the 911 call.
When the cops knocked on said residence’s door, a man allegedly opened and immediately shut it. In response, the APD set up a perimeter of the scene. However, as that was happening, two males attempted to flee the home through the back. One of the men went back inside, but the other continued running.
“The other male jumped two fences as he was fleeing. When officers located him on the other side of the fence, he appeared to have suffered an injury to his leg,” Smith said.
The officers allegedly provided medical aid to the injured man before having him transported to the Grady Marcus Trauma Center. Once there, the man–now known to be Young Scooter–died. Lt. Smith made it clear that APD officers did not shoot Scooter or fire any shots at all. He added that the 39-year-old injured his leg, likely fracturing it when he fell. He was bleeding on the scene.
“Just to be very clear, the injury that was sustained was not via the officers on scene. It was when the male was fleeing,” Lt. Smith said.
At the time of the press conference, Scooter’s official cause of death was still undetermined, and an autopsy hadn’t been done yet, per 11Alive. Additionally, bodycam footage of the scene has yet to be released.
From Kenneth Bailey To Young Scooter…
Kenneth Bailey’s ties to Atlanta began at age nine when his parents relocated their family there from South Carolina. According to Billboard, his rap breakout year came in 2012 with the track ‘Columbia.’ Two years later, he left his mark on the collab song ‘DI$Function’ with Future, Young Thug, and Juicy J. During the next four years, Young Scooter found himself on two Billboard charts for features on the songs ‘Guwop’ and ‘Jet Lag.’
As mentioned, Young Scooter was celebrating his 39th birthday on Friday. Hours before his death, he reposted more than 20 loving birthday messages and shoutouts from peers and fans to his Instagram Stories.
Scooter’s Son Reacts To Rapper’s Death
Scooter is believed to have at least five children, including three sons and two daughters. He proudly shared photos and moments from their lives on his social media. The father’s last IG feed post went up on February 3, highlighting his daughter Katelyn Bailey’s 10th birthday. Other posts from Scooter’s Instagram indicate he has a 12-year-old daughter named Kinidi and two sons, Zach and Kobe.
His firstborn son, Kenneth Bailey Jr., had an academic graduation in May 2024 and celebrated a birthday on January 4. Following the news of his dad’s death, Kenneth hopped on IG Stories with a few messages. In one, he seemingly accused the Atlanta Police Department of lying when he allegedly questioned what happened.
“F**K APD. Police or not ain have no understanding bout you pulled straight up ain’t give a f**k bout no handcuffs on me. I just wanted to make sure you good dats all I kept asking and they h*e ass kept lying. Damn my best friend gone. Happy Birthday, too. I know exactly what to do fasho tho. You know I got my sisters and brothers they overly good yo son a hustla just like you. watch dis,” Kenneth Jr. wrote, adding a few emojis.
In a second IGS post, Kenneth thanked and promised to circle back to the people reaching out to him. Additionally, he said he was trying to stay off of social media to avoid the reports about the death, including from blogs.
“…Sh*t man ion even wanna see nunna dis sh*t. Broken into million pieces ion wish dis pain on nobody. Dude a good ngga he didn’t deserve this sh*t,” Scooter’s son wrote.
Young scooter son speaks after his father’s death pic.twitter.com/pY52cHOdTr
— STREETWORK85NAWF BY DRE HOVA 💫 (@Streetwork85N) March 29, 2025
Celebs Share Their Grief & Condolences
In addition to Scooter’s son, fans have been flooding the deceased social media with their grief. The same goes for the rapper’s celebrity peers and former collaborators. On X (formerly Twitter), Quavo wrote, “Ion understand,” with broken hearts and praying hands emojis.
Offset shared a screenshot of a recent conversation between him and Scooter about teaming up on a song. He added “Smh” with a broken heart emotion to the screenshot.
Chad Ochocinco Johnson wrote “R.I.P. Young Scooter” on X. ATL Jacob also shared two X posts, with the first revealing that Young Scooter gave him his famous name. In the second, the producer talked about loving your people while they’re here.
“Life too short…love who genuinely respect you and stay close to ya loved ones. Dead ya family beef u have and make up w ya people that matters to you,” he wrote.
