Pop legend Michael Jackson dies in Los Angeles

UCLA Medical Center

Jermaine Jackson, Michael Jackson’s brother says it’s believed that the pop star died of cardiac arrest. He cautioned at a hospital press conference Thursday that the cause of his death would not be known until an autopsy was performed.He said Michael Jackson’s personal doctor and paramedics tried to resuscitate him at his rented home in Holmby Hills. A team of doctors at UCLA Medical Center also tried for more than an hour.Los Angeles police Lt. Gregg Strenk said at a separate news conference that police robbery-homicide detectives have been ordered to investigate, which is common in a high-profile case. Strenk says the coroner’s office, which will handle inquiries into the type of death, is taking possession of the body.Michael Jackson, the sensationally gifted child star who rose to become the ‘King of Pop’ and the biggest celebrity in the world only to fall from his throne in a freakish series of scandals, died Thursday. He was 50.Jackson died at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Ed Winter, the assistant chief coroner for Los Angeles County, confirmed his office had been notified of the death and would handle the investigation.The circumstances of Jackson’s death were not immediately clear. Jackson was not breathing when Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to a call at his Los Angeles home about 12:30 p.m. local time, Capt. Steve Ruda told the Los Angeles Times. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA Medical Center, Ruda told the newspaper.Jackson’s death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music’s premier all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage.