News: Rapper Beanie Sigel shot in apparent robbery

He drove himself to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where his white Chevy Impala LT sat outside the main entrance all morning, roped off by police tape.

Sigel left the hospital about 11:40 a.m. with an entourage of about 10 and was driven away in a black Mercedes R350. He left the emergency room in a wheelchair, wearing a hospital gown, blue jeans and a hospital blanket over his head. There was a blood-stained towel on his right shoulder.

When his car was just about to head down 34th Street, Sigel lowered his right backseat window and proclaimed "I'm shot. I got shot. I'm cool."

Moments later when the car was stopped at a red light, Sigel said to reporters, "Do you want to see it?" and pulled his hospital gown aside and showed a bandage on his left shoulder. His left arm was in a sling and his left hand was bloody.

"This is basically our crime scene right here," said a detective at the hospital who is involved in the investigation. "He has cooperated, he's told us what happened."

Police spokeswoman Beth Skala said Sigel, 32, was held up by five males who boxed him in with two cars before he was shot sometime before 7 a.m.

Police were uncertain exactly where the crime took place. They were checking out the area of 22d and Sigel Streets where they said members of Sigel's family lived.

"We don't know if they knew who he was," detectives said the of the suspects.

"He was in a lot of pain but good spirits," said another detective.

There were what appeared to be bloodstains on the shoulder seat belt harness, driver's side interior door and drops of blood on the driver's side arm rest. The back seat was loaded with shopping bags and a flowered car seat.

The vehicle will be towed and processed later today.

This is not the first time Sigel, whose real name is Dwight Grant, has been in the news in recent years in connection with a number of violent incidents.

He served a year in prison and was released in August on a gun charge. He was acquitted of attempted murder the following month. He was also briefly jailed in November for failure to pay child support.

His three albums - The Truth in 2000, The Reason in 2001 and last year's The B. Coming - each hit the top five on the Billboard album chart. Many of his songs depict guns, drugs and violence. He also starred in the film State Property and its sequel.