Police say three men and two teen boys have been arrested in connection with the February slaying of Pop Smoke in California. Los Angeles police reported Thursday that the five suspects were taken into custody related to the murder of the 20-year-old rapper, whose real name is Bashar Jackson.
As CBS Los Angeles reports, no further details were immediately confirmed and no names were released. “We will provide further details as they become available,” the Los Angeles Police Department tweeted.
Jackson was shot and killed in the early morning hours of February 19 inside a rental home in Hollywood Hills, a Los Angeles neighborhood. City police officers found Jackson with gunshot wounds after responding to a 911 call that came from the East Coast. The caller said several suspects had broken into the home, and at least one was armed with a handgun.
Officers rushed Jackson to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he later died.
LAPD Detectives have arrested three adult males & two juvenile males related to the Feb 19th murder of Bashar Jackson, a New York based rapper known as Pop Smoke. We will provide further details as they become available.
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) July 9, 2020
The home where the shooting occurred was owned by The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Teddi Mellencamp, daughter of musician John Mellencamp.
Pop Smoke was embraced by many of his peers in the hip-hop community for his New York sound. He dropped his mixtape, Meet the Woo, in July of last year, featuring his critically acclaimed song, “Welcome to the Party,” which was later remixed by Nicki Minaj. In February he dropped his second mixtape, Meet the Woo 2, including a remix to his hit song, “Dior,” featuring rapper Gunna.
