Lil Wayne Mourns ‘Uncle Bob,’ Former Cop Who Saved Rapper’s Life
Lil Wayne is grieving after learning the news of the death of former New Orleans police officer Robert Hoobler, who once saved the rapper’s life following a suicide attempt at age 12.
Wayne honored the late cop, who he referred to as “Uncle Bob” on Instagram on Monday (July 25).
“Everything happens for a reason. I was dying when I met u at this very spot. U refused to let me die,” he captioned his IG post. “Everything that doesn’t happen, doesn’t happen for a reason. That reason being you and faith. RIP uncle Bob. Aunt Kathie been waiting for u. I’ll love & miss u both and live for us all.”
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According to The New Orleans Advocate, the 65-year-old was found dead in his Old Jefferson, La., home. His grandson Daniel Nelson shared that his grandfather suffered from health issues from a car accident. He also struggled with diabetes, eventually leading to his legs being amputated.
Back in August 2021, the 39-year-old rapper appeared as a guest on Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man hosted by Emmanuel Acho and opened up about his mental health struggles and recounted his suicide attempt that occurred on Nov. 11, 1994.
Born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., the Young Money founder shared that he had called the police before locating his mother's gun in her bedroom and putting it to his head. He went on to say that after he shot himself in the chest, he could hear police pounding on the front door and said that the blood seeping out of his chest made it easier for him to slide his body across the floor before kicking the door to let officers know that he was inside.
"They saw me — they as in the cops — they just jumped clean over me and went through the house, talking about, 'I found the drugs! I found the gun!' It took a guy named Uncle Bob, he ran up there, and when he got to the top of the steps and saw me there, he refused to even step over me," said Weezy of Hoobler, who was off-duty at the time and arrived at Wayne's apartment after he heard the dispatcher on his police radio say a boy was suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
He added: “One of them yelled, ‘I got the drugs!’ And that’s when he went crazy. He was like, ‘I don’t give a f— about no drugs! Do you not see the baby on the ground?!’ … He’s screaming at ’em, and they all came out the other room like, ‘Oh sorry, boss. We called the ambulance.’ He’s like, ‘I don’t give a f—!’ So he called one of their names [and said] ‘Your car, now!’ Picked me up and just kept telling me some sh– like, ‘You’re not gonna die on me, you’re not gonna die on me.’ … And so he got me to the hospital, he brought me there and made sure I was good.”
Wayne continued: “I met him years later. But he was like, ‘I don’t want nothing. I just want to say I’m happy to see that I saved a life that mattered.'”
If you or anyone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts and/or distress, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255.
