Takeoff – whose name was Kirsnick Khari Ball – was one third of the group along with Quavo and Offset. He was shot around 2:30 a.m. after an argument broke out among a group of 40 people leaving a private party at the bowling alley, Houston police said. Police Chief Troy Finer said Takeoff was “respectable” and that investigators are looking for any information that will help them identify the shooters. He said most people fled after the shooting started and asked anyone who knows or has video of what happened to come forward. “I have no reason to believe he was involved in anything criminal at the time,” Finner said of Takeoff. He said at least two people brandished firearms and the other two people who were hit have non-life-threatening injuries. They were taken to hospitals in private vehicles. No arrests have been announced. “Let me just ask anyone who has information about the shooter or shooters to please provide that information to the Houston Police Department and let’s resolve this situation,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. “Let’s bring justice to this family.” From left to right, Quavo, Offset and Takeoff of Migos perform Feb. 19 in Cleveland during NBA All-Star Weekend. (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images) Police responded to reports of shots fired at 810 Billiards & Bowling, which is located in a three-story downtown Houston retail complex that includes upscale restaurants, a House of Blues and is adjacent to a Four Seasons hotel. Takeoff was pronounced dead at the scene. An Associated Press reporter spotted a body loaded into a medical examiner’s truck around 10 a.m., more than seven hours after the shooting. Houston police Lt. Ronnie Wilkens said he appeared to have been shot in the head or neck. Security guards in the area heard the gunshot but did not see who fired it, Wilkens said. Members of the media at the scene later Tuesday morning were kept across the street, which was otherwise closed to the public, and management at 810 Billiards & Bowling did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.
“Another good man gone too soon”
Several fans gathered opposite the bowling alley. Isaiah Lopez, 24, said he rushed down from his home in the Houston suburb of Humble after hearing Takeoff had been killed. “He was one of our favorites, mine and my brother’s. It’s all we would listen to,” Lopez said as he carried a dozen roses he hoped to place near the scene of the shootings. “Once my brother called me and said, ‘Takeoff’s gone,’ I had to come here and pay my respects.” Thomas Moreno, 30, lives about five minutes from where the shooting took place. She said she had met Takeoff at an event at a Houston bar and restaurant in June and called him “a really nice guy.” “I feel like another good man is gone too soon,” Moreno said. “That happens every day, but it hurts even more when it’s someone so talented and so young.” Takeoff was the youngest member of Migos, the suburban Atlanta rap trio that also featured his uncle Quavo and cousin Offset. They first broke through with the smash hit Versace in 2013. The group had four Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, although Takeoff was not on the multi-week No. 1 hit Bad and Boujee, featuring Lil Uzi Vert. They released a trilogy of albums titled Culture, Culture II and Culture III, with the first two albums reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. They also won an ASCAP Vanguard Award in 2018 for their streaming success with multi-platinum hits like Motorsport (featuring Cardi B and Nicki Minaj), Stir Fry and Walk It Talk It. The trio also played a fictional version of themselves in an episode of the hit TV show Atlanta, but the group wasn’t together at the time. Offset, who is married to Cardi B, released a solo album in 2019, while Takeoff and Quavo released a joint album, Only Built for Infinity Links, last month. Quavo posted links Monday on his Instagram to his and Takeoff’s Halloween-themed music video, Messy, along with a video of him and his friends driving around Houston.
Fellow artists mourn, share messages online
“Today I lost more than a brother. My twin my best friend everything,” wrote fellow rapper Rich the Kid – a frequent Takeoff collaborator – on Instagram. “The most humble person I know, we used to share shoes and clothes before we made it no problem… I can’t stop crying I love you so much bro forever.” Fellow rapper Ugly God also applauded Takeoff’s talent, writing in a Twitter post that Migos “changed the whole rhythm of rap when they came out.” Bernice King, CEO of the Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Social Change and daughter of the late civil rights leader, also mourned Takeoff’s death on Twitter, before calling for social changes to reduce similar violence in the future. “I am saddened that such wanton violence ended your life… We have much work to do to transform the culture of violence into one of community awareness and care,” he wrote.
