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‘Pop, Lock & Drop It’ rapper Huey fatally shot in his Missouri hometown

St. Louis rapper Huey (Lawrence Franks Jr.) performs in 2007 at MTV's "Total Request Live" in New York.
Rapper Huey performs at MTV’s “Total Request Live” in New York in June 2007. He was killed in a shooting Thursday night.
(Jason DeCrow / Associated Press )
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Rapper Huey died from a gunshot wound last night in his home town of Kinloch, Mo., police said Friday. The 32-year-old “Pop, Lock & Drop It” star, also known as Baby Huey, was shot at least once.

The rapper, whose legal name was Lawrence Franks Jr., was shot outside a home in the 8100 block of Martin Luther King Blvd. Authorities received news about his arrival at the hospital around 10:50 p.m., and he died shortly after.

A second victim was involved in a separate shooting thought to be connected to Huey’s, but the connection remains unclear. The 21-year-old man was in the hospital Friday with nonfatal injuries.

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Kinloch is adjacent to Ferguson, Mo., which was home to unrest after a police officer shot 18-year-old Michael Brown in 2015.

“Detectives believe as many as 10 other individuals were present in and around the crime scene during the occurrence of this incident,” Sgt. Benjamin Granada of the St. Louis County Police Dept. wrote in an email Friday. Investigators were urging witnesses to come forward.

The rapper rose to fame when he was 17 with his most famous single, “Pop, Lock & Drop It.” Following the success of that song as well as his first album, his later works were not as popular.

He leaves behind a 13-year-old daughter.

Fans and peers alike shared their sorrow over the rapper’s death on social media.

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