Huey, a rapper best known for his 2006 debut single “Pop, Lock & Drop It,” was killed in a double shooting in St. Louis County late Thursday. He was 32.
Huey, whose real name was Lawrence Franks Jr., was shot and killed around just before 11 p.m. in his native Kinloch, Missouri, a spokesperson for the St. Louis County Police Department told TheWrap, while a 21-year-old male who was also shot during the incident remains hospitalized with “non-life threatening injuries.”
The Bureau of Crimes Against Persons is leading the homicide investigation into the shooting, “which remains very active at this time,” the spokesperson said Detectives believe as many as 10 other individuals were present in and around the crime scene during the shooting, authorities told TheWrap.
“On June 25, 2020 at approximately 10:50 PM, the St. Louis County Police Department received notification that a victim of a shooting, a 32 year old male, had arrived at a local hospital suffering from at least one apparent gunshot wound,” read a statement from the St. Louis County Police Department. “He was pronounced deceased shortly after his arrival. The St. Louis County Police Department received a second notification that another victim of a shooting, an adult male, had arrived at the Ferguson Police Department, located at 222 South Florissant Road. That victim was transported to a local hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.”
Huey’s cousin Bruce Franks Jr. paid tribute to the rapper on Twitter early Thursday, tweeting “They killed my lil cousin” and “The last time we performed together! Y’all knew him as Huey, to his loved ones he was LJ! My lil cousin! Rest Easy! This s–t us hard man!”
They killed my lil cousin? https://t.co/jgrv7cqJHV
— Bruce Franks Jr (@brucefranksjr) June 26, 2020
The last time we performed together! Y'all knew him as Huey, to his loved ones he was LJ! My lil cousin! Rest Easy! This shit us hard man!? pic.twitter.com/Vq16Ju944U
— Bruce Franks Jr (@brucefranksjr) June 26, 2020