Man arrested in fatal shooting of Migos rapper Takeoff

By LEKAN OYEKANMI and JAKE BLEIBERG

HOUSTON (AP) — Police have arrested a 33-year-old man in the fatal shooting of rapper Takeoff, who was killed last month outside a bowling alley in Houston.

Houston police announced Friday that Patrick Xavier Clark has been charged with murder in connection with Takeoff’s death. Police Chief Troy Finner said Clark was arrested peacefully.

Born Kirsnick Khari Ball, Takeoff was the youngest member of Migos, the Grammy-nominated rap trio from suburban Atlanta that also featured his uncle Quavo and cousin Offset.

The 28-year-old musician was one of three people police said were shot outside the downtown bowling alley around 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 1, when a dispute erupted as about 40 people were leaving a private party at the alley. Police have said another man and a woman suffered non-life-threatening gunshot injuries during the shooting, in which at least two people opened fired.

Police Sgt. Michael Burrow said during a Friday news conference that the shooting followed a dispute over a game of dice, but that Takeoff was not involved and was “an innocent bystander.”

Migos’ record label, Quality Control, mourned Takeoff’s death in a statement posted on Instagram that attributed it to “senseless violence.”

Fans and other performers, including Drake and Justin Bieber, celebrated Takeoff’s musical legacy in a memorial service last month in Atlanta.

Migos first broke through with the massive hit “Versace” in 2013. They 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 II” and “Culture III,” with the first two hitting No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

Takeoff and Quavo released a joint album “Only Built for Infinity Links” just weeks before his death.

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Bleiberg reported from Dallas.