Comedian Jak Knight’s Cause of Death Revealed

Comedian Jak Knight’s death has been ruled a suicide by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner. Days after Knight’s family announced his passing, a coroner’s report obtained by PEOPLE confirmed the writer, actor and comedian’s cause of death, revealing that Knight’s body was found Thursday night on a Los Angeles embankment suffering from a gunshot wound. Knight, known for his work on Black-ish and Big Mouth, was 28.

Described as a star on the rise, Knight had a number of high-profile credits to his name.Originally from Seattle, Knight landed his first job in the industry as a writer on the animated Lucas Bros. Moving Co. when he was about 20 years old. Speaking in a 2018 interview with Respect, Knight recalled, Keith and Kenneth Lucas “heard about me from somebody, I don’t know who, and they were like, ‘Aye, come hang out with us, come smoke.’”

Knight was named a Comedy Central Comic to Watch in 2014. After serving as a writer on Fox’s animated series Lucas Bros Moving Company in 2015, he went on to become an executive story editor on Black-ish and a story editor, writer, and voice actor on Big Mouth. He was also a co-creator of Bust Down and a writer on Pause With Sam Jay. He toured worldwide as a standup comedian, opening for the likes of Dave Chappelle, Aziz Ansari, Joel McHale and Eric Andre and also appeared on the Netflix standup series The Comedy Lineup in 2018. Just prior to his passing, Knight finished shooting on Chelsea Peretti’s directorial debut, First Time Female Director, which also stars Peretti, Amy Poehler, and Megan Mullally.

Knight’s family confirmed on Thursday, July 14 that the comedian died. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, the comedian’s representative said, “Knight’s loved ones ask that their privacy please be respected during this extremely difficult time.”

News of his passing was met with an onslaught of tributes from friends, fans, and fellow comedians. Big Mouth co-creator Andrew Goldberg remembered Knight as “brilliant, hilarious, loving, and one of a kind,” adding, “My heart goes out to his family, by blood and by comedy, and everyone who loved Jak. There were a lot of us, and we miss him already.” Writing that he was “in shock,” actor Joel Kim Booster tweeted, “There was no one like Jak Knight. A singular talent, actually funny and a genuinely kind person, a rare combo. I just can’t believe this at all.”

If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741.