Rapper Takeoff, from Grammy-nominated trio Migos, shot to death in Houston

Police said they have few leads in the fatal shooting of rapper Takeoff outside a private party at a downtown Houston bowling alley.

The fatal shooting of the rapper Takeoff has Houston police asking for the public's help in identifying who opened fire outside a bowling alley early Tuesday, killing the 28-year-old member of the Grammy-nominated trio Migos and wounding two other people.

Takeoff whose name was Kirsnick Khari Ballformedone third of the the Grammy-nominated trio Migos withuncleQuavo andcousin 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.

Finner said Takeoff was "well respected" andthere was "no reason to believe he was involved in anything criminal at the time."

He said that at least two people fired guns and that the two other people who were struck have injuries that are not life-threatening. They were taken to hospitals in private vehicles.

"Let me just ask ... that anyone who has information on the shooter or shooters to provide that information to Houston Police Departmentand let us solve this situation," Turner said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. "Let us bring justice to this family."

No arrests have been announced.

The bowling alley is in a three-storey downtown Houston retail complex that includes high-end restaurants, a House of Blues and is near a Four Seasons hotel. Takeoff was pronounced dead at the scene of the 2:30 a.m. shooting.

Houston Police Lt. Ronnie Willkens said heappeared to have been shot in the head or neck.

Security guards who were in the area heard the shooting but did not see who did it, Willkens said.

A spokesperson for 810 Billiards & Bowling said the shooting took place after the alley closed and said the business is co-operating with investigators.

'Another good person gone too soon'

Several fans gathered across the street from 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 favourites, 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 site of the shooting. "As soon as my brother called me and said, 'Takeoff is gone,'I had to come over here and pay my respects."

Thomas Moreno, 30, lives about five minutes from the site of the shooting. He said he had met Takeoff at an event at a Houston bar and restaurant in June and called him "a real nice guy."

"I feel it's just another good person gone too soon," Moreno said. "This happens every day but it hurts even more when it's somebody so talented and so young."

By late Tuesday afternoon, fans had created a memorial with roses, candles and a teddy bear on the first floor of the retail complex. Yellow crime scene tape still blocked off stairs leading to 810 Billiards & Bowling.

Takeoff was the youngest member of Migos, the rap trio from suburban Atlanta that also featured his uncle Quavo and cousin Offset. They first broke through with the massive hit Versacein 2013.

The group had four Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, though Takeoff was not on their multi-week No. 1 hit Bad and Boujee,featuring Lil Uzi Vert. They put out a trilogy of albums called Culture, Culture IIand Culture III,with the first two albums hitting No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. They also earned an ASCAP Vanguard Award in 2018, for their streaming success with multi-platinum songs like Motorsport (featuring Cardi B and Nicki Minaj),Stir Fry,and Walk It Talk It.

The trio also played a fictional version of themselves on an episode of the hit TV show Atlanta, but the group was not 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 rapper Rich the Kid a frequent collaborator with Takeoff on Instagram.

"The most humble person I know, we used to share shoes andclothes before we made it with no problem.... Ican't stop crying I love you so much bro forever."

Fellow rapper Ugly God also applauded Takeoff's talent, writing in a Twitter post thatMigos "changed the whole cadence of rap when they came out."

On Instagram, Drake shared a photo of the two performing on stage, writing, "I got the best memories of all of us seeing the world together and bringing light to every city we touch."

And 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 yet to confirm details around the shooting. "Please respect his family and friends as we all continue to process this monumental loss."

Broadcaster BETtweeted "Flow unmatched. Talent undeniable" as it paid tribute to Takeoff, whilejournalist and author Jemele Hill recalled thedeaths of two other rap stars, Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G.

Bernice King, CEO of the Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Social Changeand daughter tothe late civil rights leader, also mourned Takeoff's death on Twitter, before calling for societal changes to reduce similar violence in the future.

"I mourn that such frivolous violence has ended your life....We have a lot of work to do in transforming the culture of violence into a culture of community awareness and care," she wrote.