Tragedy has struck the world of hip hop.
Takeoff, one-third of the wildly popular rap group Migos, was shot and killed early Tuesday morning in Houston, Texas.
He was 28 years old.
According to local officials, the Houston Fire Department responded to reports of a shooting at 810 Billiards & Bowling, located at 1201 San Jacinto, around 2:40 a.m. today.
Once they arrived on the scene, authorities say they came across a large crowd … along with a man with a gunshot wound to the head or neck.
The man — later identified as Takeoff — was pronounced dead at the scene.
We can also confirm that Quavo, another member of Migos, was present at the time of the incident.
TMZ, meanwhile, reports that Takeoff and Quavo were at the establishment and playing dice when an altercation broke out, prompting someone to open fire.
Two other individuals were wounded in the shooting.
Mere hours before he was murdered, Takeoff posted a selfie from the bowling alley (below), while Quavo shared a video earlier the same night night.
It featured the artist driving around Houston with Jas Prince, who was celebrating his birthday.
Takeoff (real name: Kirsnik Khari Ball) was the youngest member of Migos.
Quavo was his uncle, and Offset was his cousin.
The beloved group formed in 2008 in Georgia, prior to growing into multi-platinum musicians.
They dropped their first major hit, “Versace,” in 2013 and went on to sit on top of the Billboard in 2016 with “Bad and Boujee.”
Most recently, Quavo and Takeoff released a project as the duo, “Unc & Phew,” coming out with a new music video for the track “Messy” on Monday.
On Twitter, in the wake of this tragedy, friends and followers paid tribute to the late rapper.
“I remember Takeoff being a very down to earth, cool dude,” wrote boxer Chris Eubank Jr.
“Can’t believe I’m having to say this again about another young black star being killed for no reason, something really has to change in the industry.”
Added Twitch streamer Adin Ross:
“Rest in peace to Takeoff, I just spoke to him too. I’m in shock right now, I can’t believe it. I pray to god it’s fake. This shit just ain’t fair bro wtf.”
As of this writing, neither Quavo nor Offset has said anything in public about the loss of Takeoff.
We send our condolences to the friends, family members and loved ones of Takeoff.
May he rest in peace.
UPDATE: More tributes continue to pour in via social media.
“I was in college when Biggie and ‘Pac were killed and thought there was no way we’d ever experience anything remotely close to that again,” author Jemele Hill tweeted.
“Now it’s happening so frequently that you barely have time to recover before someone else killed. RIP Takeoff.”
Jake Paul wrote: “Senseless killings need to stop. Need to unify. RIP TAKEOFF.”
Added Lil Pump on Takeoff’s most recent Instagram post: “God plz tell me this ain’t true.”
You can view the original article HERE.
