Heavy has obtained Chicago police dispatch audio that reveals an officer reported a “guy seizuring” at a private airport hangar when authorities called in the emergency situation involving the rapper Juice Wrld. Juice WRLD was rushed to the hospital, where he died a short time later.
Juice WRLD was a rising Chicago-born rapper whose Lucid Dreams was a massive hit. His death at age 21 – confirmed to Heavy by Chicago police and the county medical examiner’s office – has shocked fans and left the rap world reeling.
His official cause of death won’t be known until the autopsy, but there are conflicting reports about whether he died from a seizure, cardiac arrest – or both. The scanner audio shows that the first report to dispatch referred to a “guy seizuring in here.” You can listen to the audio file yourself later in this article. The officers and dispatchers don’t use Juice WRLD’s name, but the time and place correspond exactly to the audio.
TMZ is now reporting that the plane that the rapper took to Chicago was “loaded down with 70 pounds of marijuana … and cops say people on the plane told them the rapper had popped several pills prior to suffering seizures.” The site published a photo allegedly showing drugs inside suitcases. Although it’s not clear what the pills were, TMZ reports that one of Juice’s colleagues told police that Juice had a “Percocet problem,” and police found a bottle of codeine cough syrup on the private plane.
The Chicago Tribune quoted law enforcement sources as saying that Juice WRLD went into “convulsions” and then cardiac arrest as federal agents were “searching his and his entourage’s luggage for guns and drugs.” The federal agents were waiting for the plane because they suspected Juice’s private plane was “carrying contraband,” the Tribune reported.
Agents gave Juice Narcan when he started “going into a seizure” and that woke him up but he was “incoherent,” according to the newspaper’s sources.
Chicago police told Heavy.com in a statement that, on December 8, 2019 at approximately 1:34 a.m. in the 6100 block of South Laramie, Chicago Police “were called to assist Federal Authorities in regards to a private jet arriving at the airport which contained a large amount of narcotics. Upon CPD arriving, the occupants of the target plane were standing in the lobby with luggage loaded on two luggage carts.”
The statement continues, “Illinois State Police K9 Unit began a search which immediately indicated a positive narcotics alert on a suitcase on the first cart. The K9 Officer then conducted a search on the second cart of luggage with another positive alert of narcotics. Officers then searched the luggage, which contained 41 bags of suspect marijuana and six prescription bottles of suspect liquid cocaine, along with three firearms. None of the subjects claimed ownership of the luggage.”
Police added: “During the investigation, a 21-year-old male suffered a medical emergency, causing him to have a seizure. The report indicates that a Homeland Security Officer administrated Narcan to the victim. The victim was later pronounced. Upon further investigation, Offender #1 Henry Dean, 27, indicated that he was on the plane but was private security. He was able to provide a valid FOID card and CCL but was in possession of high capacity round magazine. Offender #1 was subsequently charged with one charge of Possession of High Capacity Magazine and Metal Piercing Bullets, and two misdemeanor counts of Carry or Conceal a Firearm in the Airport. Offender #2, Christopher Long, 36 was charged with one misdemeanor count of Unlawful Use of Weapon/Carry or Possess.”
Furthermore, TMZ is reporting that Juice WRLD may have ingested Percocet to avoid law enforcement from getting them. However, an autopsy was conducted, with the cause of death deferred pending additional testing.
The Tribune reported that authorities recovered “41 ‘vacuum-sealed’ bags of marijuana, six bottles of prescription codeine cough syrup, two 9 mm pistols, a .40-caliber pistol, a high-capacity ammunition magazine, and metal-piercing bullets,” according to the newspaper’s sources. The bags with the marijuana and codeine lacked name tags, The Tribune reported. The plane contained 10 passengers including Juice’s girlfriend, who allegedly told police that Juice “takes Percocet and has a drug problem.” Since Percocet contains Oxycodone, Narcan was given.
Chicago Fire Spokesman Lawrence Langford told Heavy, “Chicago Fire found him in cardiac arrest and treated him according to protocol. We are called to a private terminal at Midway to a private flight.” The Chicago Sun-Times reports that was around 2 a.m. and Juice WRLD was pronounced dead at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn at 3:15 a.m. Langford told the newspaper it wasn’t clear whether the cardiac incident started before or after the plane landed. The hangar was operated by Atlantic Aviation, according to The Chicago Tribune.
That follows an earlier report that the rapper died after suffering from a seizure, according to TMZ, which broke the news of his death.
Meanwhile video has surfaced showing Juice WRLD on the private jet as it flew to Chicago. Nothing appears amiss.
“More footage of Juice Wrld on his private jet which was headed to Chicago. Seems like everything was good and everyone including him was in high spirits until he landed,” wrote DJ Akademiks, who shared the videos on Twitter.
More footage of Juice Wrld on his private jet which was headed to Chicago. Seems like everything was good and everyone including him was in high spirits until he landed. 😢
Here’s what you need to know:
Two Officers Called & Asked for an Ambulance to Go to the Airport, the Audio Shows
GettyJuice Wrld.
The pertinent audio starts at about 14:36 minutes into the file, which you can listen to below. “Get an ambulance inside the Atlantic uh airport. We’ve got a guy seizuring in here,” says an officer.
“Ambulance inside the airport? Where in the airport?” asks the dispatcher. “The Atlantic private section. 6150 S Laramie. An individual seizuring,” says the officer.
Dispatcher: “6150 South Laramie, OK, we will get them rolling.” That’s the address of Atlantic Aviation at Midway.
At 15:54 in, another officer says, “Ambulance come over here to Atlantic…” The dispatcher responds, “Already sent.”
At 17:25 into the file, an officer informs dispatch, “We’re going to need a beat car to follow this EMS from Midway,” “OK,” she says.
Listen to the audio here:
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed to Heavy that they were notified of Juice WRLD’s death, using his real name Jarad Anthony Higgins.
TMZ, which first broke the story of the rapper’s sudden death, reported that Juice WRLD is “dead after suffering a seizure in Chicago’s Midway airport.” The entertainment site gave additional details on the shocking news by adding, “witnesses tell us he suffered the seizure while walking through the airport. Law enforcement sources say he was bleeding from the mouth when paramedics got on scene.”
It’s not clear what triggered the seizure and/or cardiac arrest, however. Anthony Guglielmi, Chicago police spokesman, told Heavy in a statement, “This is being classif(ied) currently as a death investigation. There are no initial signs of foul play and we are awaiting results from the medical examiner on the cause and manner of death.” He added on Twitter: “After arriving in Chicago Mr. Higgins suffered what appears to be a medical emergency with no obvious signs of foul play. Individuals aboard the aircraft are cooperating. We will await autopsy results on cause & manner of death & don’t anticipate any updates until 3 p.m. tomorrow.” The people with Juice WRLD have not been identified.
TMZ reported that Juice WRLD died at the hospital and was still conscious when he was brought there. According to The Chicago Sun-Times, Juice died after suffering “a medical emergency at Midway Airport.” Midway is the smaller of Chicago’s two major airports, with the other being O’Hare.
“The medical examiner has been notified of the death of Jarad Higgins, 21 year old black male, 18500 block of Pierce Terrace in Homewood, Illinois, and the autopsy has not been performed at this time,” the medical examiner’s spokeswoman told Heavy. The Pierce Terrace address is his home address in Illinois, according to online records. The official cause of death will likely be determined at that time.
Juice WRLD rose to fame with his songs Lucid Dreams and All Girls Are the Same. His calbum Death Race for Love went to Number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. He also collaborated with various well-known artists, such as Ellie Goulding and Lil Uzi. In what some are now saying is disturbingly prophetic, a TikTok video challenge to Lucid Dreams before Juice’s death showcased people faking that they had seizures while dancing to his music.
“Juice made a profound impact on the world in such a short period of time. He was a gentle soul, whose creativity knew no bounds, an exceptional human being and artist who loved and cared for his fans above everything else,” Interscope Records wrote in a statement.
According to Metro UK, Juice WRLD was at the Chicago Airport on Sunday morning because he had just arrived at the airport “on a flight from California.”
According to the Sun-Times, “Chicago police confirmed that a 21-year-old man suffered a medical emergency at the airport about 2 a.m. after getting off a private jet. He was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead.”
READ NEXT: Learn About Juice WRLD’s Girlfriend.