Four members of chart-topping rapper T.I. [ tickets ]'s crew were injured--one fatally--during a shootout in Cincinnati early Wednesday (5/3) morning, according to published reports.

According to The Cincinnati Enquirer, Philant Johnson, 26, of Union City, GA, died from gunshot wounds; Janice Gillespie, 22, of St. Paul, MN, was admitted to U.C. Hospital and was listed in stable condition; and Ronald Hausley, 40, of Mapleton, GA, and Elijah Edwards, 31, of Stratford, CT, were both treated and released.

The shootings took place around 3 a.m. on Interstate 75, shortly after T.I. and his crew had departed in vans from Club Ritz, where they had gone to hang after performing at Cincinnati venue Bogart's. All four victims were passengers in the same van. It was unclear if T.I. was in the same van as the shooting victims, but he reportedly was not injured.

Eyewitnesses told the Enquirer that the problem started inside the club when a group of male patrons got into a beef with "one member of a rapper's entourage" who had allegedly hit the men in the face with money that he was throwing from the stage into the audience. When the tension continued to mount, T.I. reportedly tried to collect his crew and leave the club.

"T.I. was telling his boys, 'Come on, let's go. Let's Go,'" one witness was quoted as saying. "And the Cincinnati boys were like, 'Yea, let's go.'"

The witness claimed that four people--believed to be from Cincinnati--traveling in a large S.U.V. followed the vans containing T.I. and his crew before the shooting took place on I-75.

Police who responded to the scene closed down the southbound lanes of the highway for about seven hours, causing a major backup for morning commuters.

Club Ritz has been a problem spot for some time, according to the Enquirer, which reported that some community members and police had unsuccessfully petitioned the Cincinnati City Council last year to shut down the club. Two months after their unsuccessful bid, three people were shot outside the club following a fight.

T.I.'s Cincinnati concert was part of his ongoing tour behind his latest album, "King," which debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 album chart last month after selling more than a half-million copies during its first week of release.