BATON ROUGE — A rapper with connections to the Bleedas gang visited his Baton Rouge alma mater and recorded a video with students imitating gunfire this week.

He was on the campus of Park Forest Middle School to make a donation, a source close to the school said.

David Catherine, known as RealBleeda, stopped by the magnet school to donate snacks for the upcoming LEAP tests. He also donated a PlayStation 5 to the school's esports program.

Catherine had attended the school and knew Principal Xavier Rawls-Stromile from his time in school. The principal only knew him as a rap artist and was not aware of any alleged involvement in illegal activities, said a school source speaking on condition of anonymity. 

According to school sources, Catherine asked to film a TikTok video with students in the Park Forest gym. He was granted permission and asked to use clean music, which he did during the recording. It was replaced on social media by his explicit song "STEP 2K25." 

The video, posted on TikTok on Wednesday, shows students dancing with Catherine. The children briefly joined the rapper in imitating pointing a gun at the camera.

"What school next?" the caption of the video asked. 

By Thursday, the video had been removed from Catherine's TikTok account, but a video posted on Instagram shows him arriving at the school with the PlayStation and snacks he donated. 

Catherine's appearance at Park Forest was not sanctioned by the East Baton Rouge Parish School District as visits to schools are usually done on a school-by-school basis, a district spokesperson said.

The district said Friday they were aware of Catherine's visit, saying that the video and his actions are behavior "that does not align with our values or standards."

"Upon learning about this individual’s background, the district initiated an internal investigation to ensure that we are addressing the situation appropriately," a spokesperson said. "The safety, security, and well-being of our students remain our highest priority, and we will take all necessary actions to reinforce our standards."

Court records show Catherine, 22, is out on bond for a January drug and weapons arrest. He has been arrested for drug and gun charges multiple times over the past few years. Law enforcement also confirmed that Catherine is a member of the Bleedas gang.

Several Bleedas gang members were indicted for multiple armed robberies in April 2024, including George Applewhite, a known associate of Catherine. In 2022, WBRZ reported the Mall of Louisiana shooting death of 18-year-old Donte Dorsey and 19-year-old Clifton Lindsey. Dorsey was another aspiring rapper who performed under the name TrueBleeda.

Catherine was not charged in those crimes.