A$AP Rocky's accuser says he was stunned and furious when his old friend pulled a gun on him

A$AP Rocky's accuser, former friend and the key witness at his trial testified Tuesday that their relationship had been fraying for years, but he was “furious” and flabbergasted when Rocky pulled a gun on him on the streets of Hollywood.

“I told him to use it. Because mentally I couldn’t believe it," said the man who goes by A$AP Relli, with his old friend staring at him intently from the defense table. “I physically could not believe there was a gun in my face. That was the breaking point for me.”

The court day ended with a cliffhanger, just as Relli was about to describe the moment when Rocky allegedly fired at him.

Rocky, the hip-hop star, fashion mogul and longtime and partner of Rihanna, has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm for allegedly firing at Relli.

“He’s famous,” Relli told the jury Tuesday. “I’m nobody.”

Relli, whose legal name is Terell Ephron, described how he and Rocky, born Rakim Mayers, were part of the same collective of creators and aspiring entrepreneurs at a New York high school who called themselves A$AP — which stands for Always Strive and Prosper, but can mean many things.

They remained close for years, as Rocky’s star rose, and Relli got into music management.

Relli said he and Rocky were like brothers, and saw each other every day, “up until he got famous." Then, he said, he didn't have time for his friend.

“I mean it’s always been like that. It’s really hard having a relationship with Rocky, he lies a lot,” Relli testified. “I called him Mr. Six Month Man. I would see him every six months."

But Relli said the last thing he wanted to do was to fight someone as prominent as Rocky, because his career “would be over. Literally over. You don’t have a career.”

His testimony was quiet and reluctant at first.

“I got anxiety,” he said at one point.

But he grew louder and took on a more forceful tone as he described the run-up to the confrontation.

He said he overheard Rocky slam him with a series of slurs and swear words while he rode in an SUV with a mutual friend the day before. It was over speaker phone, which Rocky didn't seem to know.

He read texts from Rocky sent on the day of the incident, Nov. 6, 2021.

“Where you at?, Let’s get to it," one read.

“I had kind of an idea that he wanted to fight or something, just argue or something," Relli said.

The two decided on a meetup and Relli said he thought they would argue but reconcile. He said Rocky seemed to have other ideas. They met along with two of their A$AP crew members next to a parking garage across from the W Hotel.

He said Rocky was shouting obscenities at him from afar before they even reached each other, and immediately grabbed him violently, as one of their friends started to intervene.

When Rocky stepped back, he pulled the semiautomatic handgun out of his waistband and pointed it closely at Relli's head and stomach, Relli testified.

When he saw the pistol, he said he asked Rocky, "What are you doing with a gun?”

Relli returns to the stand Wednesday, when he'll be expected to describe the moment the alleged shots were fired. He'll then face what's likely to be a fierce cross-examination from Rocky's attorneys.

Prosecutors say Rocky fired two shots at Relli, who said previously that bullets grazed his knuckles.

The defense argues Relli was the aggressor, and Rocky fired a starter pistol to break up a fight between him and another member of their crew. They said Rocky carried the pistol, which only shoots blanks, for security.

Before the jury was brought in, the defense revealed that they do not have the pistol.

“Does the prop gun exist?” Judge Matthew Arnold asked.

“The prop gun did exist,” Rocky's lawyer Joe Tacopina said. “It does not now. We don’t have it.”

The defense said in its opening statement that Relli was acting so fearlessly because he knew Rocky carried phony guns.

Relli testified that he had never heard of such a thing, and he didn't know Rocky to carry guns of any kind.

“He's got a lot of security,” he said.

Rocky's lawyers said Relli, who has also filed a civil lawsuit, is driven by “ jealousy, lies and greed " and fabricated large parts of the story to get money.

Earlier Tuesday, the defense cross-examined a police officer who responded to reports of a shooting about the absence of evidence at the scene.

“There was no sign of a shooting?" Tacopina asked.

“No,” said Sgt. Thomas Zizzo.

“No blood?”

“No.”

“No bullet holes?”

“No.”

No shell casings?

“No.”

“No physical evidence that a shooting happened at all?”

“No.”

Two days after the shooting, Relli himself brought two shell casings to police that he said he had found at the scene after seven police officers searched the scene and found nothing.

Zizzo is the son of Erika Jayne, former star of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills."

Rihanna, Rocky's longtime partner and the mother of their two toddler sons, was not in court. Rocky's lawyers said an appearance is unlikely but possible.

Defense attorney Joe Tacopina listens to opening remarks from the prosecuting attorney during the trial of his client, Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Paul Przelomiec makes his opening remarks as defense attorney Joe Tacopina, center, and his client, Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, right, listen in Mayers' trial at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, listens to opening remarks by the prosecuting attorney in his trial at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

Judge Mark S. Arnold speaks to attorneys before opening remarks in the trial of Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, and his attorney Joe Tacopina listen to opening remarks by the prosecuting attorney in Mayers' trial at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, lower right, frowns while listening to opening remarks from the prosecuting attorney during his trial at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

Grammy-nominated rapper A$AP Rocky, center, facing two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm after allegedly shooting at a former friend in 2021, arrives at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, and his attorney Joe Tacopina listen to opening remarks by the prosecuting attorney in Mayers' trial at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

DENVER (AP) — A Frontier Airlines plane hit and killed a pedestrian on the runway of the Denver International Airport during takeoff, airport authorities said, sparking an engine fire and forcing passengers to evacuate.

The plane, on route from Denver to Los Angeles International Airport, “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff at DEN at approximately 11:19 p.m. on Friday," the airport's official X account wrote.

A spokesperson for the airport said the pedestrian, who jumped a perimeter fence, has died. They said the unidentified person was hit two minutes after entering the airport. The person is not believed to be an airport employee.

“We're stopping on the runway,” the pilot tells the control tower according to the site ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”

The pilot tells the air traffic controller they have “231 souls” on board and that an “individual was walking across the runway.”

The air traffic controller responds that they are “rolling the trucks now" before the pilot tells the tower they “have smoke in the aircraft. We are going to evacuate on the runway.”

Frontier Airlines said in a statement flight 4345 was the one involved in the collision and that “smoke was reported in the cabin and the pilots aborted takeoff.” It was not clear whether the smoke was linked to the crash with the pedestrian.

“The Airbus A321 was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members,” the airline said. “We are investigating this incident and gathering more information in coordination with the airport and other safety authorities.”

Passengers were then evacuated via slides and the emergency crew bused them to the terminal. The airport spokesperson said 12 passengers suffered minor injuries and five were taken to local hospitals.

Denver Airport said the National Transportation Safety Board had been notified and that runway 17L, where the incident took place, will remain closed while an investigation is conducted. It is expected to open later today.

The pedestrian death came a day after a Delta Air Lines employee was killed while on the job at the Orlando International Airport. In a statement, the airline said the employee was killed Thursday night without providing details of the incident nor the name of the employee.

“We are focused on extending our full support to family and taking care of our Orlando team during this difficult time,” the airline said. "We are working with local authorities as a full investigation gets underway to determine what occurred.”

FILE - A Frontier Airlines jetliner taxis down a runway for take off from Denver International airport on Nov. 25, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)