Who Is Brandon Lincoln Woodward, Midtown Shooting Victim: An Aspiring Lawyer and Rapper (PHOTOS)

Yesterday, in the busy Columbus Circle area of Midtown Manhattan, Brandon Lincoln Woodward was the victim of an apparent targeted “hit” after a man shot him, execution-style, in the back of his head.

Police say Woodward was stalked for 40 minutes before being shot with a silver semiautomatic pistol in front of St. Thomas Choir School on W. 58th St. near Seventh Ave. The suspect then turned and got in a Lincoln MKZ sedan. He is still at large.
The 31-year-old, visiting from Los Angeles, had stayed at the posh 6 Columbus Hotel down the block, according to a receptionist, where suites cost $850 a night. Woodward, who received his bachelor’s degree in business administration, was a law student at Loyola Marymount University and a father to a 4-year-old girl. He had run into legal woes in his life, according to New York 1, that included charges for cocaine possession and hit-and-run driving. In 2009, he was arrested for stealing several bottles of wine from a store and most recently, he was facing an assault and battery charge from June 2012.

His father, Lincoln Woodward, told authorities that his son was an aspiring rapper and a “good son.”

“This is a shock,” Woodard’s father J Lincoln Woodard told the Daily News. “He was a very good son, loving.”

He said his son’s legal trouble was behind him and that he was studying to become a lawyer.

Police are looking into Woodward’s ties in the music industry as a motive, as well as a possible connection to drug dealing. Eyewitness reports are helping police determine the nature of the crime:

“He was facing up. You could see an iPhone and headphones laying next to him. So it wasn’t a robbery, clearly.” Sadet Kolo, 36, who was skateboarding near the victim told the New York Daily News: “It came out of nowhere. I turned around and saw a man next to me, on the ground. I called 911 and told him ‘Hang on. Help is on the way.'”

“He was bleeding bad. Blood was gushing out of his eyeball, his nose, mouth, everywhere. He was talking a little. Or trying to. He was alive for good two minutes.”

We’re going to keep his family in our prayers. 

SOURCE: Daily News