(National File) Kirshnik Khari Ball, aka Takeoff, 28, of the wildly popular Migos hip-hop collective, was murdered by a gunshot wound in a dispute over a dice game at a party in downtown Houston early Tuesday morning.
Police responded to reports of a shooting in progress around 2:34 AM Tuesday morning at the 810 Billiards & Bowling Alley at 1201 San Jacinto Street. Reportedly, there were 40 to 50 people in attendance at the private party. Takeoff was found deceased by Houston Police Department (HPD) upon arrival at the scene. At least two firearms were used in the encounter.
“There are too many young men of color that are killing young men of color. We do need to have that conversation. We do need to deal with it head on,” Mayor Turner added. “It’s across the board with this demographic.”
Too many young men of color are killing each other. Resolving their disputes by pulling their guns and shooting one another regardless of fame or fortune. Crazy. And in a few second a life is gone, families and friends are left grieving. STOP! st
— Sylvester Turner (@SylvesterTurner) November 1, 2022
“This does not have to be our reality and it need not be our future,” Turner added.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner (D) admitted that “young men of color” are the most common perpetrators and victims of homicide. According to the data reported by the HPD to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FB) and its Crime Data Explorer (CBE), Turner is correct.
However, In Houston, you are more likely to be a victim of a general violent crime if you are white than if you are black, despite the fact that most of the offenders are black. This would include violent crimes not involving death, including aggravated assaults, burglaries, and robberies.
The death of Takeoff is a symptom of the criminality which has crippled the Texan port city over the past couple of years. Homicides have increased 134% over the last decade, according to the FBI CDE.
The Mayor of Houston asked the public for help with the identification of the alleged perpetrators, he specifically directed his plea to the few dozen people who attended the party that ultimately resulted in the death of Takeoff.
“As you heard this was a private party last night of about 40 people. In that group, somebody or people knew who the actual shooter or shooters were. And let me just ask like has already been asked that anyone who has information on the shooter or shooters to provide that information to HPD,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said in a press conference on Tuesday.
A text message which surfaced on social media Tuesday from an alleged witness implied that the Migos collective had been hanging out with some very dangerous people at the party.
“So Quavo was shooting dice and he was getting his pockets [broken] off bad so [the] dude had an attitude and he tried getting aggressive with the wrong mob ties [man] [I’m not going] to drop names,” the alleged witness said. “Then dude got on his ass, [and] then somebody they [were] with jumped up, and that’s when everybody bunched up. Then shots just started ringing but they were coming from somebody Migos was with, but he was shooting wild and hit Takeoff on accident.”
“The [others started] shooting back and I think he got hit again but ultimately, his own [friends] killed him [because] when got hit the first time I [saw] his body just drop,” the alleged witness stated. “Takeoff was the coolest, quietest guy in the room [at the party] the whole time.”
