Actor Thomas Jefferson Byrd, who starred in numerous Spike Lee movies, was found by police with multiple gunshot wounds early on Saturday morning.
Anthony Grant, a spokesperson for the Atlanta Police Department confirmed the news on Sunday. He said Byrd was pronounced dead of "multiple gunshot wounds to the back" after a shooting took place at a residence in Atlanta, Georgia.
The New York Times reports that Craig Wyckoff, Byrd's friend and former representative, said on Sunday that he had spoken with a "circle of friends" who said that Byrd had gotten into an argument with someone at a store and that "that person must have followed him home."
The police said the case was under investigation and that homicide detectives were working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Byrd was a long time collaborator of director Spike Lee's, working with the director on eight films from 1995 to 2015. These included Clockers, Girl 6 and Da Sweet Blood of Jesus.
He received a Tony nomination in 2003 for his Broadway debut in a revival of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
