The rapper and outspoken advocate for the LGBT community Kevin Fret has been shot dead in Puerto Rico aged 24.

The musician, described as Latin Trap music's first openly gay artist, was killed in the capital San Juan on Thursday, police said.

Fret was shot eight times while riding a motorbike in the street. An investigation is under way.

His death brings the number of murders in Puerto Rico this year to 22, police added.

Fret's manager, Eduardo Rodriguez, described the rapper as "an artistic soul" who had a passion for music.

Confirming his death, Mr Rodriguez said: "There are no words that describe the feeling we have and the pain that causes us to know that a person with so many dreams has to go.

"We must all unite in these difficult times, and ask for much peace for our beloved Puerto Rico."

The rapper's latest video, Soy Asi, has more than half a million views on YouTube.

"I'm a person that doesn't care what anybody has to say," he told online magazine Paper last year.

"[Now I see] young gay guys or young lesbians that are looking at me now like a role model, like wow, if he did it, and he don't care what anybody else has to say, I can do it."

Puerto Rico has seen a rise in street crime in recent weeks, which has been described by police on the Caribbean island as a "crisis of violence".