A fast-rising American rapper has been shot dead in a club in his hometown. Rapper Doe B, 22, was killed alongside Kimberle Johnson, 21. The barrage wounded six more people at the Centennial Hill Bar and Grill early yesterday, police said.

Security guards at the club couldn’t stop the shooting. Police are searching for suspects and asking for tips on Facebook to help them make arrests.

The mayor vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Doe B was born Glenn Thomas, and hailed from Montgomery, his manager Frank White said.

Thomas had recently been on tour.

Colourful placards announcing his performances marked the path of his December concert rounds through his state and to Atlanta. He then returned to the club in his home town, where his life was taken.

It was not the first time he had been shot, Billboard Magazine reported. His eye was wounded in a previous shooting, and he wore an eye patch that had become his trademark.

On the cover of his new album Baby Jesus, a baby is pictured dressed like Doe B with the eye patch and with additional bullet wounds on the left arm.

The venue got a reputation with city officials after a shooting there last year, which local media reported. Back then it was called the Rose Supper Club, but it changed its name after the violence.

Montgomery’s mayor has promptly shut the club down. The city had given Centennial Hill repeated warnings, Todd Strange said in a statement.

“I believe it is not a matter of ‘if,’ but ‘when’ the next tragic incident occurs at this business,” he said. “That is unacceptable, and that is why we have ordered the business to be closed effective immediately.”

Doe B’s musician friends and compatriots poured out their hearts on Twitter.

“He was just getting started.... The future was so bright... I would have told you thank you. Rest in peace,” manager White posted.

“Clubs keep lettin guns in the club as if that’s not where we as artists work. We got families to go home to, f--- is wrong with y’all,” said artist Machine Gun Kelly.

•Adapted from a CNN report.