Pop Smoke’s death wasn’t a robbery gone wrong. Surveillance video from the scene supports the conclusion that it was a targeted hit.
People who have seen the surveillance footage from outside the Hollywood Hills home where Pop was killed Wednesday morning told TMZ:
… you see 4 men approach the home at around 4:30 AM and sneak around back.
A couple minutes pass before 3 of the 4 walk back up the side of the home to the front. The 4th apparently walked in the backdoor but no camera was trained on it. The next time you see the man, he exits through the front door of the house.
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Multiple shots were fired inside the home, and they only struck Pop Smoke, according to TMZ. He was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
Initially, it appeared it might have been a robbery because the rapper posted a photo earlier in the day of a bunch of gifts, and one of them had his home address emblazoned on it. Hours before the shooting, he posted another picture of himself and a friend in a car, and the friend is holding a tremendous amount of cash.
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Further pointing to a targeted hit, the people who have seen the surveillance video indicated that the person inside the house — presumably the shooter — did not carry anything out. Given that he shot someone, it’s doubtful he would take the time to stuff items in his pocket.
It is worth noting, although there is no proof they are connected, that hours before he was scheduled to perform at a concert in New York in January, Pop Smoke was arrested at Kennedy International Airport. He had just returned to New York from Paris Fashion Week. He was accused of stealing a black 2019 Rolls-Royce, worth $375,000, that he had borrowed for a music video in California, according to an indictment and a law enforcement official.
Investigators believe he arranged for the Rolls-Royce to be transported to New York City on the back of a flatbed truck, and then posted a photo on Instagram showing him in front of the stolen car, the official said. (The image has since been taken down from Instagram, but is still visible on Facebook.)
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In December 2019, investigators found the Rolls-Royce parked outside the home of Pop Smoke’s mother in the Canarsie area of Brooklyn, the official said, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a continuing investigation. The license plate had been changed and the windows had been tinted. The car has since been returned to the owner, the law enforcement official said.
Pop Smoke, whose real name is Bashar Jackson, was charged with a crime rarely seen in a federal indictment: interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle. Pop Smoke pleaded not guilty to the single count in late January.
At a court hearing on January 17, a federal prosecutor said the government believed that Pop Smoke was a member of a street gang affiliated with the Crips. The indictment does not accuse him of committing any violence.
Pop Smoke was only 20 and already making a name for himself in music. His song, “Welcome to the Party” was remixed by Nicki Minaj and he appeared on Travis Scott‘s latest project “JACKBOYS.” His mix tape charted #7 Tuesday on the Billboard 200.
Police continue to investigate the murder and have not arrested or named any suspects.
