Police: 5 arrested in Los Angeles death of rapper Pop Smoke

LOS ANGELES — Three men and two juveniles have been arrested in connection with the February home-invasion death of rising rapper Pop Smoke in Los Angeles, police said Thursday.

The 20-year-old New York, rapper whose legal name is Bashar Barakah Jackson was killed Feb. 19 at a home in the Hollywood Hills. A 911 call from a friend of someone in the house reported armed intruders inside the home, police previously said.

Police announced the arrests Thursday on Twitter. Additional information was not immediately available.

Authorities did not initially believe the rapper’s death was related to a robbery. The home where the shooting occurred is owned by Edwin Arroyave and his wife Teddi Mellencamp, daughter of Rock & Roll Hall-of-Famer John Mellencamp and a star of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”

Teddi Mellencamp previously said on Instagram that the couple had been notified of the shooting at their rental property but knew no more than what they had seen in media reports.

Pop Smoke arrived on the rap scene in 2018 and broke out with “Welcome to the Party” a gangsta anthem with boasts about shootings, killings and drugs that became a huge sensation, and prompted Nicki Minaj to drop a verse on a remix.

Earlier this year, he released the album “Meet the Woo 2,” which debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart. It was the follow up to his first official release,” Meet the Woo.” He also had the popular hit “Gatti” with Travis Scott and Jackboys and “Dior.”

Pop Smoke had been scheduled to start a U.S. tour in Washington, D.C., on March 2.