Police said they have few leads in the fatal shooting of rapper Takeoff outside a private party at a downtown Houston bowling alley.
Takeoff, whose off-stage name was Kirsnick Khari Ball, formed one-third of the Grammy Award-nominated trio Migos with uncle Quavo and cousin Offset from suburban Atlanta. The 28-year-old rapper was killed early Tuesday when gunfire erupted and also wounded another man and a woman, according to police Chief Troy Finner.
Most of the 40 people who attended the party at 810 Billiards & Bowling fled when the gunshots rang out, Finner said. That left police asking people to come forward and give statements and videos to investigators on what they saw and heard, even if anonymously, Mayor Sylvester Turner said.
At least two people discharged firearms, according to Finner. The two others who were struck by gunfire had non-life-threatening wounds and went to hospitals in private vehicles, he said.
“Let me just ask … that anyone who has information on the shooter or shooters to provide that information to HPD and let us solve this situation,” Turner said at a news conference Tuesday. “Let us bring justice to this family.”
Finner said Takeoff was “well respected,” and there was “no reason to believe he was involved in anything criminal at the time.”
Migos’ record label, Quality Control, mourned Takeoff’s death in a statement posted on Instagram.
“Senseless violence and a stray bullet has taken another life from this world and we are devastated,” the statement said, though police have said nothing about the gunshot being a stray. “Please respect his family and friends as we all continue to process this monumental loss.”
Security guards in the area heard the shooting but did not see who did it, a police spokesperson said. A spokesperson for 810 Billiards & Bowling said the shooting took place after the alley closed and said the business is cooperating with investigators.
Just hours before Takeoff’s tragic passing, him and Quavo had released a video called “Messy”, in which at one point the lyric appears to be talking about Quavo and his former girlfriend Saweetie, who allegedly had an affair with someone in the ‘Migos’ crew, with many rushing to conclude it’s Offset, Cardi B’s husband.
In a video obtained by TMZ, Quavo is arguing with an unidentified individual, seconds before Takeoff is killed by a bullet, despite not being actively involved in the argument, rather than having his friend’s back.
Moments later, Quavo and other people intend to help Takeoff, but unfortunately he was pronounced dead at the scene minutes later.
