Slain rapper fired first shot, police say

Rapper Proof fired the first bullet in a Detroit nightclub shootout that ended his life, police said Wednesday.

The bullet hit Keith Bender, 35, in the head, critically injuring him early Tuesday at the C.C.C., a bar in a strip of businesses along Eight Mile, the road made famous in Eminem’s movie of the same name, “8 Mile.”

Proof, a member of D12 and whose real name was Deshaun Holton, was taken to a nearby outpatient treatment center by a private car, where he was pronounced dead.

Detectives are currently trying to figure out who shot Proof, said Detroit police spokesman Sgt. Omar Feliciano. He said his office was told by homicide detectives that Proof fired the first shot at Bender.