Canadian rapper Tory Lanez is reportedly recovering after being stabbed 14 times earlier this month inside California Correctional Institution, in an incident that has stirred fresh concern over his safety behind bars. Now, the man accused of attacking him—an inmate named Santino Casio—has come forward to share his version of events.

Casio, who is currently serving a life sentence, told TMZ that the violent assault stemmed from rumors circulating in prison. According to him, word got around that Lanez had placed a “bounty” on his head. That rumor, Casio says, made him fear for his life. So when he saw Lanez one day and noticed what he thought was a lump in the rapper’s pocket—something he interpreted as a weapon—he lashed out.

“I wasn’t trying to kill him,” Casio said. “But when you feel like someone’s gunning for you inside, you don’t take chances.”

The two inmates reportedly used to get along as cell neighbors, and Casio admits things never had to escalate the way they did. But in his mind, he was cornered—and what followed was an eruption of fear and paranoia behind locked doors.

Strangely, Casio claims he was also wounded during the scuffle, suggesting that Lanez may have fought back. “I caught a stab in the leg,” he noted, although prison authorities did not recover any weapons from the scene—an omission that Casio says only adds to the mystery.

Lanez’s legal team, meanwhile, is calling the attack a terrifying confirmation of what they’ve been warning about all along.

“The recent attempt on his life was savage and ferocious,” his lawyers told TMZ. “It underscores the clear and present danger he faces while incarcerated. Any claims to the contrary—especially from someone serving life for heinous crimes—are not only baseless but absurd.”

They went further, calling his continued imprisonment “a miscarriage of justice” and demanding his immediate release.

Lanez, who was convicted in the high-profile Megan Thee Stallion shooting case, is currently seeking to overturn that conviction. His legal team maintains he is innocent and claims they’ve gathered new evidence to support that. So far, courts haven’t acted on their appeals—but the case continues to attract public attention, with even U.S. Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna recently calling for his release online.

For now, though, Tory Lanez is still behind bars—and apparently, recovering from wounds that could have been far more serious. Whether justice will look any different for him in the coming months remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: the prison system is proving to be as dangerous for high-profile inmates as it is for anyone else.