Rising Brooklyn rapper Pop Smoke was reportedly shot and killed at a Los Angeles home on Wednesday morning, TMZ first reported.
The Los Angeles Times reported that officers responded to the Hollywood Hills after someone on the East Coast reported the invasion around 5 a.m., Now This reported. The caller said at least one intruder was armed and wearing a black mask, police said.
When officers arrived, they said they found the 20-year-old artist, whose legal name is Bashar Barakah Jackson, with gunshot wounds, the LA Times reported, citing law enforcement officials.
According to Now This, Jackson was reportedly taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An official from the Los Angeles Police Department said in a press conference on Wednesday morning that the victim’s identity has not yet been confirmed. No arrests had been made as of Wednesday morning, NBCLA reported, but the LAPD officers said they are looking for between two and six people in connection with the killing.
Tributes to Pop Smoke were pouring in on Wednesday morning from artists including 50 Cent and Nicki Minaj, who remixed the late artist’s breakout hit “Welcome to the Party,” which was released in April 2019.
