Jan. 3, 1997 -- Despite Tupac Shakur's very public death on a Las Vegas street last October, rumors that he is still alive continue to pop up in electronic and print media.
Tupac filled his 25 years with enough drama and adventure to fill a three-hour movie. So it should come as no surprise that even in death, many of his fans (e-mailing us at the rate of dozens a day) anxiously await one more plot twist. As with most good '90s conspiracy theories, "Tupac lives" began on the Internet.
Some speculate Tupac faked his death to boost record sales or to avoid enemies. In fact, Tupac's sales and public persona were never bigger than in the months before his death. Armchair analysis of his lyrics shows that Tupac was preoccupied with his own passing, and an eerie video depicting his fatal shooting appeared just days after his death.
Speculation also centers on "The Don Killuminati: The Seven Day Theory," which Tupac posthumously released under the alias "Makaveli." A note inside the cover says "exit: 2pac, enter: Makaveli," fueling the theory that Tupac is heeding the advice of Nicolo Machiavelli, a 16th century Italian war philosopher, who some say advocated faking one's own death to fool enemies and gain power.
"Don Killuminati" is presumably a reference to the "Illuminati," a dubious secret society allegedly begun in the 1700s which aspires to world domination. Then there's the cover art and accompanying numerology, suggesting, to some, a resurrection.
Adding to these omens in the minds of the skeptical, is doubt surrounding the circumstances of Tupac's shooting. True believers claim there were no witnesses to the shooting; that the white Cadillac from which Tupac was supposedly shot was never found; that Tupac always wore a bulletproof vest, but oddly didn't wear one that night, and that his hasty cremation and canceled funeral services were merely a way of avoiding an autopsy, a death certificate and a public viewing of the body, which, since there was no body, would have exposed the whole plot.
In fact, there is plenty of evidence that Tupac is indeed dead. Las Vegas police interviewed over 20 witnesses to the shooting, and they believe they know who killed Tupac. But without further witness co-operation, they fear they won't have a prosecutable case. Secondly, an autopsy was performed on a body positively identified through fingerprints as Tupac Shakur, the cause of death listed as injuries from gunshot wounds. A death certificate is on file in the Clark County Vital Records Office, and Davis Funeral Home of Las Vegas confirms that they handled services for one Tupac Shakur.
"People need to let him rest in peace, let that rumor rest in peace," Snoop Doggy Dogg told MTV News. "When you make legendary music, people don't want to believe you're gone. Like, they keep saying Elvis ain't dead you know what I'm sayin', but it's just all about the individual himself, he was a legend and everybody don't wanna let it go."
News at the time
SLAIN RAPPER Tupac Shakur is shown in this Dec. 16, 1993 file photo. Police have arrested a 22-year-old gang member in connection with the execution-style killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, ABC reported Wednesday, Oct. 2, 1996. Shakur, one of rap's most successful and notorious singers, was shot following a boxing match Sept. 7, 1996, in Las Vegas. He died a week later. ABC radio reported that the 22-year-old man and others were arrested in an ongoing police sweep. The Compton Police Department declined to comment about the arrest report.
MTV Reports Tupac's Death And The Follow-Up Investigation
Watch MTV's News report of the death of Tupac Shakur. Right click to download.
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Watch MTV's News account of the investigation into the murder of Tupac Shakur. Right click to download.
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VIBE MAGAZINE honors slain rapper Tupac Shakur in a last minute inclusion to the November issue featuring New Edition in a unique special double cover issue to hit newsstands Oct. 8.
September 10, 1996 FRIENDS OF RAPPER Tupac Shakur are detained outside University Medical Center, where they had gathered in support of the injured singer.
October 02, 1996 COMPTON POLICE Detective Tim Brennan sifts through some of the paraphenalia confiscated from suspects arrested for murder or related charges during staged raids by nine federal, state and local law enforcement agencies Wednesday, Oct. 2, 1996. Officers were armed with 19 arrest warrants for suspects responsible for 12 shootings that have occurred inCompton since Sept. 7.. Compton Police Department investigators stated that the motives for some of the shootings may have been in retaliation for the shooting of rap artist Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas Sept. 7, 1996.
October 02, 1996 COMPTON Police officer Anthony Easter holds up a necklace with the "Death Row Records" logo belonging to one of the suspects arrested for murder or related charges for 12 shootings that occurred in Compton since Sept. 7, during staged raids by nine federal, state and local law enforcement agencies Wednesday, Oct. 2, 1996. Compton Police Department investigators stated that the motives for some of the shootings may have been in retaliation for the shooting of rap artist Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas Sept. 7, 1996.
September 09, 1996
4 sought in Shakur shooting
By Karen Zekan
LAS VEGAS SUN
Four assailants remained at large today in the near-slaying of rapper Tupac Shakur after a drive-by shooting near the Strip.
Death Row Records Chairman Marion "Suge" Knight, a former Las Vegas resident, also was injured in the shooting.
Shakur, 25, was in critical condition this morning in University Medical Center's intensive care unit.
Several dozen friends and family members held a vigil in the lobby and on the driveway of the Trauma Center since Saturday night's shooting after the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon heavyweight boxing match.
"This is always so painful to see," the Rev. Jesse Jackson said Sunday about the assault on Shakur and Knight. Jackson was in Las Vegas on behalf of the National Rainbow Coalition, launching a voter registration and mobilization tour.
Referring to what he described as "cycles of self-destruction," Jackson added, "I can only hope people choose life over death."
Jackson said he hoped to visit Shakur in the hospital.
Shakur underwent a second operation at 6:20 p.m. Sunday to repair bullet wounds, and returned to his room at 7:45 p.m., said Dale Pugh, hospital spokesman.
The recording star whose history is marred by violence and criminal convictions was shot four times in the chest while standing up through the open sun roof of a black 1996 BMW 750 sedan about 11:15 p.m. Saturday while eastbound on Flamingo Road near Koval Lane.
Shakur's friends said Knight, 31, was driving the BMW toward toward Club 662 at 1700 E. Flamingo Road, which Knight owns, when a late 1990s white four-door Cadillac pulled up to the BMW's passenger side.
One of the Cadillac's four occupants fired at least 13 rounds at the BMW, four striking Shakur in the chest as he stood up in the car and shrapnel grazing Knight's head, said Metro Police Sgt. Greg McCurdy.
Metro Police were in the Maxim hotel-casino parking garage on an unrelated call and heard shots from the nearby Flamingo-Koval intersection, McCurdy said.
"They saw about 10 cars pull a U-turn and head west on Flamingo at a high rate of speed," McCurdy said.
A traffic jam on the Strip helped Metro bike patrol officers catch up to the caravan on Las Vegas Boulevard South at Harmon Avenue, about a mile from the shooting. Police radioed for paramedics after finding a bloodied but conscious Shakur and Knight in the BMW.
Knight was released from UMC at 11 a.m. Sunday in good condition, However, he was not cooperating with Metro's investigation, said homicide Sgt. Kevin Manning.
Manning said the shooting "was not a random act of violence."
Metro Police would not comment on sources' claims that the incident was fueled by an argument earlier that evening toward the end of the Tyson-Seldon bout at the MGM Grand.
"At this point, we have no suspects in custody," said Lt. Marc Maston. "We've spoken with several people, but all of them have been released."
Shakur's family declined to comment on the attack. His mother apologized outside the hospital for not granting the SUN an interview. "I can only imagine how hard it must be for all of you (reporters) to have to do this type of work," she said politely.
The black BMW remained in the impound lot at Ewing Bros. Auto Body and Towing lot in North Las Vegas Sunday, its right front and rear ends damaged and passenger door sprayed with bullet holes.
Police found no weapon inside the car, merely a cigar case and a Motorola cellular flip phone.
It was the second time in less than two years that someone has shot at Shakur, the gangster rap star whose songs focusing on sex and violence have sold millions of copies.
The rapper, who starred opposite Janet Jackson in the movie "Poetic Justice," is working on another film, "Gridlock." His latest album, "All Eyez On Me," has sold more than 5 million copies.
In November 1994, he was shot five times and lost $40,000 worth of jewelry during a robbery in a Manhattan recording studio.
Shakur was released last year from a New York prison after serving an eight-month sentence for sexual abuse.
Shakur pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge for trying to hit another performer at a concert at Michigan State University in 1983.
Also in 1983, Shakur was accused of shooting two Atlanta police officers, but charges were later dropped.
Shakur was charged with battery in 1992 for slapping a woman who asked for his autograph.
An appeal is pending of a judge's April order that Shakur spend three months in jail on probation violations in Los Angeles and New York for not doing roadside cleanup work as part of his sentencing.
He is scheduled for sentencing Thursday for carrying a loaded, concealed gun during an assault on a music video producer in Los Angeles.
September 18, 1996
Vegas Police Consult with L.A. Officers in Rap Star's Shooting
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Metro Police say they are not getting any substantial help from the entourage that accompanied rap singer Tupac Shakur when he was shot on a busy street near the Las Vegas Strip Sept. 7.
Shakur died Friday at University Medical Center.
"Our official stance is it is still unclear as to a motive or suspects," said Metro Sgt. Kevin Manning, who is heading the investigation. "We are not getting any substantial new help from the Tupac group, so anything we are doing now is pretty much on our own."
Two investigators from the Los Angeles County sheriff's office were in Las Vegas earlier this week to consult with Metro Police.
Homicide Lt. Larry Spinosa declined to release details of the meeting, or say whether it sparked any new leads.
Shakur, 25, was a passenger in a car driven by Death Row Records Chairman Marion "Suge" Knight.
Shakur was shot four times when a white Cadillac pulled up to the passenger side of the car and opened fire. Knight, a former UNLV football player, was struck in the head, possibly by a bullet fragment. He was treated at UMC and released several hours later.
Shakur's body was cremated and a private service was held in Las Vegas by his family.
Meanwhile, a memorial service planned for Shakur in Los Angeles has been canceled because there was no available site large enough to accommodate the expected crowd, Death Row Records said in a prepared statement Tuesday.
September 10, 1997
Former Shakur murder suspect files suit against rapper's estate
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A reputed gang member investigated for the shooting death of Tupac Shakur has filed a lawsuit against the slain rapper's estate alleging he was assaulted just hours before the shooting.
Orlando Anderson claims in his lawsuit that he suffered physical injuries and severe emotional and mental distress after a brawl with Shakur and Death Row Records founder Marion "Suge" Knight outside the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.
A few hours after the fight Sept. 7, 1996, which was captured by a hotel security camera, someone fired on the car carrying Shakur and Knight. Shakur died a week later at the hospital. No arrests have been made in Shakur's death.
Anderson's lawyer, Renee L. Campbell, said authorities told her client he was a suspect in Shakur's death, but he denies being involved in the shooting.
"It is clear that if there is any victim, my client is the victim," Campbell said.
Richard Fischbein, co-executor of the Shakur estate's, was baffled by the lawsuit, which was filed late Monday.
"Only in California can a perjurer, and he is a perjurer, and an alleged suspect in a murder investigation start a lawsuit against the person that he allegedly killed," said Fischbein, reached late Tuesday at his home in New York.
Death Row lawyer David Kenner did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment Tuesday night.
Knight is serving a nine year sentence for violating probation. That violation was the brawl outside the MGM Hotel. At Knight's probation hearing in November, Anderson said Knight was actually trying to break up the fight.
When asked whether Anderson, had perjured himself on the stand at the hearing, Campbell said her client "testified the way he did out of fear for his safety."
In October, Anderson, who police say is a member of the Crips, was briefly held on an outstanding warrant for a death in Compton that was unrelated to Shakur's murder. No charges were filed against Anderson in that case.
Several other lawsuits have been filed against Shakur's estate and his parents are currently in probate court battling for a stake in it.
September 10, 1997
Former Shakur murder suspect files suit against rapper's estate
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A reputed gang member investigated for the shooting death of Tupac Shakur has filed a lawsuit against the slain rapper's estate alleging he was assaulted just hours before the shooting.
Orlando Anderson claims in his lawsuit that he suffered physical injuries and severe emotional and mental distress after a brawl with Shakur and Death Row Records founder Marion "Suge" Knight outside the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.
A few hours after the fight Sept. 7, 1996, which was captured by a hotel security camera, someone fired on the car carrying Shakur and Knight. Shakur died a week later at the hospital. No arrests have been made in Shakur's death.
Anderson's lawyer, Renee L. Campbell, said authorities told her client he was a suspect in Shakur's death, but he denies being involved in the shooting.
"It is clear that if there is any victim, my client is the victim," Campbell said.
Richard Fischbein, co-executor of the Shakur estate's, was baffled by the lawsuit, which was filed late Monday.
"Only in California can a perjurer, and he is a perjurer, and an alleged suspect in a murder investigation start a lawsuit against the person that he allegedly killed," said Fischbein, reached late Tuesday at his home in New York.
Death Row lawyer David Kenner did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment Tuesday night.
Knight is serving a nine year sentence for violating probation. That violation was the brawl outside the MGM Hotel. At Knight's probation hearing in November, Anderson said Knight was actually trying to break up the fight.
When asked whether Anderson, had perjured himself on the stand at the hearing, Campbell said her client "testified the way he did out of fear for his safety."
In October, Anderson, who police say is a member of the Crips, was briefly held on an outstanding warrant for a death in Compton that was unrelated to Shakur's murder. No charges were filed against Anderson in that case.
Several other lawsuits have been filed against Shakur's estate and his parents are currently in probate court battling for a stake in it.
September 06, 1997
The death of Tupac Shakur one year later
By Cathy Scott
LAS VEGAS SUN
A year has passed since rap and film star Tupac Shakur was shot to death near the Las Vegas Strip.
The murder has yet to be solved, and, according to investigators, it may never be.
"We're at a standstill," said Metro Police homicide Sgt. Kevin Manning, who is heading the investigation.
Still, detectives receive "information constantly" about the murder, he said.
The information, however, hasn't moved the case forward. In addition to bona fide tips, police have received many false tips from people claiming to know who did it.
Police say the case slowed early in the investigation as few new clues came in and witnesses clammed up. The murder weapon has not been found, and no one has fingered a suspect.
The Shakur slaying is one of the biggest murder cases in Las Vegas history.
The case attracted national media attention, and has been featured on television shows such as "America's Most Wanted," "Unsolved Mysteries," "Prime Time Live" and "Hard Copy."
Before his death, Shakur, 25, was a music icon for many who saw him as a voice for young people rebelling against their lot in life.
Since his death and the release of the critically acclaimed film "Gridlock'd" and his last album, "Don Killuminati -- The 7-Day Theory," he's been likened to a prince.
But he also was heavily criticized, before and after his death, for his violent lyrics and negative depictions of women.
Fateful night
On Sept. 7, 1996, Shakur and Death Row Records owner Marion "Suge" Knight were driving to a nightclub with an entourage behind them on East Flamingo Road. They were in town for the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon heavyweight championship boxing match. Tyson was to meet them later at Club 662, where Shakur and other rap artists were scheduled to perform.
They never made it.
A light-colored late-model Cadillac pulled up next to Knight's rented BMW 750 and a gunman in the back seat opened fire on the passenger side. Shakur was hit three times.
He died six days later at University Medical Center.
So the question remains: Who killed Tupac Shakur? Was it as simple as jealousy over women and money? Was it related to street gangs, namely the Crips and Bloods? Was it because of an East Coast-West Coast rap music rivalry?
On Nov. 13, two months after Shakur's death, 19-year-old Yafeu Fula, a backup singer in Shakur's group Outlaw Immortalz, was shot gangland-style in the hallway of a housing project in Orange, N.J. The 19-year-old was part of Shakur's entourage in Las Vegas and was a passenger in a car directly behind Shakur's when Shakur was shot.
Police say Fula's murder was unrelated to the Shakur case, even though Fula was the only witness who told Metro investigators that night that he could possibly identify Shakur's assailant. Fula was killed before police could question him at length.
Then five months later, on March 9, Christopher Wallace, who also went by the name Biggie Smalls and performed under the name The Notorious B.I.G., was killed in Los Angeles in a shooting similar to Shakur's.
There was bad blood between the rappers. Wallace, on the East Coast, and Shakur, on the West Coast, had been involved in what has been termed a "bi-coastal rivalry" about who was the best rapper. Wallace, like Shakur, was a platinum-selling recording artist.
Metro's Manning said at the time of Wallace's death that it resembled "about 90 percent of drive-by shootings."
The 24-year-old drug dealer-turned-rap artist was killed as he sat in the passenger seat of his GMC Suburban while leaving a crowded party following the 11th annual Soul Train Music Awards.
Los Angeles Police have yet to solve Smalls' murder.
Lawsuits galore
Shakur's estate has been hit with a slew of lawsuits since his death. And his mother, Afeni Shakur, has been fighting to gain some control and benefit from his record sales as well as from as-yet-unreleased records. Afeni Shakur filed a suit against Death Row Records and its owner and chief executive officer, Marion "Suge" Knight.
Her New York attorney, Richard Fischbein, said he was close to reaching a settlement that would give his client a share of Shakur's earnings.
In another suit, Jacquelyn McNealey, now a paraplegic after being shot during one of Shakur's concerts, was awarded an undisclosed judgment in November against the late rapper's estate. She claimed Shakur "taunted and challenged" rival gang members in the audience, which caused a frenzy ending in her being shot, the lawsuit alleges.
And in yet another legal action, C. Delores Tucker, who in 1994 formed an anti-rap campaign with former U.S. drug czar William Bennett and is mentioned derogatorily in one of Shakur's songs, filed a lawsuit for damages against Shakur's estate. She claimed that her sex life with her husband was adversely affected because of some of Shakur's lyrics.
The latest suit was filed by Shakur's estranged father, Billy Garland of New Jersey. He's trying to share control of the estate with Afeni Shakur, even though he left the family when Shakur was 4 and remained absent until visiting Shakur in 1994 at a New York hospital.
Estimates of Shakur's worth vary because Death Row Records, the label under which Shakur recorded his last two albums, has claimed that Shakur was given hundreds of thousands of dollars in jewelry, cars, homes and cash that have been deducted from his platinum-selling records. Death Row Records wants millions of dollars in reimbursement it claims was advanced to Shakur.
The 32-year-old Knight has been imprisoned since November for violating a 1995 parole. He was sentenced to nine years in the California state prison system. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge said Knight violated his probation by taking part in a fight at the MGM Grand hotel-casino on Sept. 7 following the Tyson-Seldon bout. About three hours later, Shakur was shot and Knight was grazed in the drive-by shooting on East Flamingo Road.
Police later identified the person beaten in the fight as Orlando Anderson of Compton, Calif. He was held for questioning by Compton and Las Vegas police, but later released. He has contended, through his attorney Edi O. Faal, that he had nothing to do with Shakur's killing.
Knight's downfall
Since the Shakur murder, more information has been learned about Knight's activities in Las Vegas, including a 1987 arrest at the Rancho Sahara Apartments at 1655 E. Sahara Ave., where Knight lived at the time. He was arrested on charges of attempted murder and grand larceny on Halloween night after Knight shot a man in the wrist and leg during an argument. Knight pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor.
On Nov. 3, 1989, Knight and Sharitha Lee Golden were married in Las Vegas.
Then, on June 6, 1990, Knight was charged with assault after he broke a man's jaw outside a house in West Las Vegas. Knight later pleaded guilty to felony assault with a deadly weapon.
Knight had attended UNLV and played on the Rebel football team in 1985 and 1986 but dropped out shortly before graduation, according to his teammates.
In May, several months after his parole violation conviction, Knight was transferred to the California Men's Colony East in San Luis Obispo, where he is serving out his nine-year sentence.
Since Knight's incarceration, his now-estranged wife, Sharitha Knight, has been taking care of the day-to-day operations of Death Row Records.
April 04, 1997
Rap musicians vow to end violent rivalries
CHICAGO (AP) - Several rap musicians promised to end violent rivalries and announced plans to tour the country to promote unity and uplift the black community.
The musicians gathered in Chicago on Thursday at the urging of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. They promised to forgive each other for professional and personal insults that may have motivated the killings of two prominent rappers, Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G.
Farrakhan called for the summit after those killings, which came in September and March, respectively.
Among the rappers at the meeting were Snoop Doggy Dogg, Busy Bone, C Low and Doug E. Fresh.
Several rappers will cut an album together to kick off the tour, Farrakhan said. The tour will end Oct. 16, the second anniversary of the Farrakhan-orchestrated Million Man March on Washington.
March 03, 1997
Tupac witnesses' stories conflicting
By Cathy Scott
LAS VEGAS SUN
Metro Police homicide detectives have left messages with two men who claim they can identify the assailants who murdered rap and film star Tupac Shakur near the Las Vegas Strip.
It could lead to a break in the case, said homicide Sgt. Kevin Manning.
At the same time, Manning said the pair have changed their stories told to detectives on Sept. 7.
Shakur, 25, was shot three times that night on East Flamingo Road at Koval Lane. He died six days later at University Medical Center. Because Shakur lapsed into a coma, police were not able to interview him.
Marion "Suge" Knight, chief executive officer of Death Row Records and the driver of a BMW in which Shakur was a passenger, was grazed in the temple. The 31-year-old Knight made a U-turn and drove to the Strip at Harmon Avenue, where he was stopped by bicycle patrol officers.
Malcolm Greenridge, a rap singer in Shakur's backup group, and Frank Alexander, a former bodyguard for Shakur and a one-time reservist for the Orange County sheriff's department, told the Los Angeles Times they could identify the shooters.
But they told police otherwise, Manning said.
When asked if he could identify the shooters, Alexander told detectives the night of the shooting, "Absolutely not," Manning said, describing Alexander's interview as 13 pages long after it was transcribed. Greenridge's interview was 11 pages long. Greenridge, he said, answered "Nope" to the same question.
"They never said they could identify a shooter," Manning said. "Nowhere during the taped interview did they say they could recognize or identify anyone in the vehicle, the shooter or otherwise."
Manning said it's curious that the pair complained to a Los Angeles Times reporter that they were harassed by police while also saying they were never contacted by detectives.
"So which is it?" Manning asked.
Alexander, Greenridge and rapper Tufau Fula were in a car behind Tupac when the shooting broke out. Alexander, who was driving, followed Knight's rented BMW to the Strip and Harmon. When police arrived, officers ordered some members of Shakur's entourage to drop to the ground until they could assess the situation. In November, Fula was murdered in New Jersey.
"The L.A. Times is not going to help them find the killer," Manning said.
He said detectives left a message at Alexander's home Thursday. Greenridge's number has been disconnected, but detectives left word through a third party to call Metro homicide detectives.
As of today, Manning said, the two have not called detectives.
Homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen said even if the two were to identify a shooter, defense attorneys would ask them, "How does your recollection of what happened get better six months after the event? There are inconsistencies."
November 13, 1996
Shakur shooting witness found dead in N.J.
By Cathy Scott
LAS VEGAS SUN
A key witness Metro Police has been trying to interview since the fatal shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur has been murdered in New Jersey, homicide Sgt. Kevin Manning said today.
Yafeu Fula, 19, a member of Shakur's backup group, the Outlaws Immortalz, was shot to death Sunday, Manning said.
Police in Orange, N.J., notified Manning late Tuesday about the killing, he said.
Fula, who lived in Montclair, N.J., was shot once in the head and was found slumped in the third-floor hallway of an apartment building at 325 Mechanic St. early Sunday where he had been visiting a friend, Orange police said. Officers found Fula at 3:48 a.m. after receiving a report of a shooting.
Orange Police Capt. Richard Conte said the investigation was expected to end in an arrest "within days."
"We don't believe it's related at this time to the Shakur killing," he said. "The way the investigation is going, it's not going in that direction, but it's still under investigation."
Some of Fula's friends said they believed Fula was Shakur's half brother, The Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J., reported today. Orange police said they didn't know if the two were related.
"A lot of people have stated he was Tupac's cousin, he was his half-brother, that they had the same father," Orange Police Capt. Richard Conte said today. I know they had a working relationship. I doubt if there's a blood relationship with what we know at this time. Their mother's are close friends."
Fula toured with Outlaw Immortalz, formally named Thug Life, and appeared with Shakur on his album "All Eyez on Me."
Fula is shown with Shakur in an album photo insert standing on the stage of Club 662 in Las Vegas.
Shakur, 25, was gunned down Sept. 7 while he, associates and friends in a caravan of luxury cars headed to a benefit at Club 662, a private nightclub operated by Marion "Suge" Knight. Knight was driving the rented BMW in which Shakur was a passenger. Knight suffered a minor head wound. Shakur died six days later.
Fula was sitting with body guards in the car behind Tupac's when the shooting occurred, Manning said. The detective said he had been in touch with Fula's attorney since the shooting to return Fula to Las Vegas for a second interview. Detectives interviewed him briefly after the shooting.
Meanwhile, homicide has received new tips in Shakur's killing near the Strip after "America's Most Wanted" aired a segment about the incident.
The program, shown Saturday night on the Fox Network, prompted "a healthy amount of tips," said Lena Nozizwe, a correspondent with the program. Officials from the show forwarded those tips Tuesday to homicide investigators, Lt. Larry Spinosa said.
The first in the fall series of new shows, "America's Most Wanted Fights Back," aired Saturday night and featured the shooting of Shakur in Las Vegas. The program has resulted in the arrest of 423 criminals.
Spinosa said Tuesday that detectives were reviewing the new tips and "are following up on them, making phone calls."
To date, police have received sketchy details of the gunmen, described only as three to four black men in a white or light-colored late-model Cadillac that pulled alongside Shakur and Knight on Flamingo Road East. Tupac and his entourage were in town for the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon fight.
October 02, 1996
Arrest made in connection to Shakur killing
SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Compton, Calif., Police arrested 21 gang members early today, including at least one person who will be questioned in connection with the Sept. 7 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas.
The sweep targeted individuals believed to have been involved in as many as a dozen shootings that occurred in the Compton area in possible retaliation for the Shakur shooting, police Capt. Steven Roller said.
"None of the suspects that we arrested will at the present time be charged with the events that happened in the city of Las Vegas," Roller emphasized.
Three people were killed in the 12 shootings that have occurred in the Compton area since the Shakur shooting, Roller said. Some may have been in retaliation for the Shakur attack, he said.
A New York radio station reported this morning that one of those arrested, 22-year-old Orlando Anderson of Compton, told police that Marion "Suge" Knight, Death Row Records owner and driver of the BMW in which Shakur was a passenger, was the target of the Sept. 7 drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip.
Compton Police said Anderson has ties to the Los Angeles Crips gang. Knight reportedly has ties to the Los Angeles Bloods and sports an "M.O.B." tattoo on his arm that police have said stands for "Member of Bloods."
Knight, who owns a home in the southeast Las Vegas Valley and has interest in a nightclub here, gave police very little information after the shooting. It took four days for him to meet with homicide detectives to give a statement.
Shakur, 25, died Sept. 13 from chest and abdominal wounds. Although he was conscious at the time he was admitted into University Medical Center, he was in a coma and on a respirator at the time of his death. A day after the shooting, doctors surgically removed a lung to try to stop internal bleeding.
Knight, 31, was driving with Shakur on East Flamingo Road a few blocks off the Strip after the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon heavyweight fight when a gunman in a white late-model Cadillac pulled up next to them and emptied a semiautomatic pistol into the passenger side. Knight suffered a minor head injury during the shooting.
Knight, driving with two flat tires, made a U-turn on East Flamingo after the shooting even though bicycle patrol officers were in pursuit. He told investigators he was trying to find a hospital, police said. Knight was finally stopped by officers about a mile away.
Shakur, whose family and relatives told homicide detectives that his real name is Lesane Crooks, was struck four times, in the chest and abdomen.
Days after the shooting, three attorneys accompanied Knight to the offices of Metro's homicide division where detectives questioned him for about an hour.
"We were hoping he would tell us who shot him," homicide Sgt. Kevin Manning said. "He didn't give us anything beneficial."
Knight also did not shed light on a possible motive for the shooting.
September 19, 1996
Tupac's final music video eerily foreshadowed death of rapper
SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
A music video of Tupac Shakur made about a month before he was gunned down in Las Vegas foreshadowed his violent death and shows the gangsta rapper being ushered into heaven.
The video for "I Ain't Mad," which aired Wednesday night on MTV, also shows Shakur being riddled with bullets and dying in an ambulance.
He is met in heaven by comedian Redd Foxx, who is hosting a jam session with Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong and Robert Johnson, among other performers.
Shakur's label, Death Row Records, delivered the video to MTV on Monday -- three days after the 25-year-old rapper died Friday of gunshot wounds suffered in a Sept. 7 shooting on East Flamingo Road, the New York Post reported today.
In another eerie similarity to real life, the video shows Shakur -- who was in a car with Death Row President Marion "Suge" Knight at the time of the shooting -- riding with a friend in a limousine.
"It is ironic -- definitely a case of life imitating art," Death Row's George Pryce told the Post. "It's almost as if Tupac had a sense of foreboding."
Metro Police are investigating the shooting, but they have few leads. The shots came from a white Cadillac that pulled up next to the vehicle in which Shakur was riding. Witnesses, including Knight, have refused to cooperate.
Sources have told the Los Angeles Times that a double killing in Compton, Calif., last week was in retaliation for the Shakur shooting.
September 11, 1996
Media, fans seek clues to reason for shooting
By Karen Zekan
LAS VEGAS SUN
The shooting of rap star Tupac Shakur has stirred a media frenzy in Las Vegas.
Local radio stations have been flooded with requests to play his albums and throngs of fans have flocked to University Medical Center. News reporters from across the country are here to report on events following the weekend shooting.
Pop star Hammer was granted entry to the rapper's bedside Tuesday, the latest on a list of friends and celebrities, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, that the family is permitting to see Shakur, said Dale Pugh, University Medical Center spokesman.
"(Shakur) has been on a respirator since he arrived here late Saturday, and has been heavily sedated because of his extensive internal injuries," Pugh said. "Critical is the most serious term we can apply to a condition, and he remains very, very critical."
If he survives the multiple bullet wounds that forced the removal of his right lung Sunday night, Shakur, 25, will be facing at least six months' recovery, authorities said.
Reporters from music magazines, tabloids and the nation's largest newspapers have been flooding local police, hospital and media switchboards in a frantic scramble for the latest shreds of insight into the shooting. Yet those who seem to be controlling the information game -- Shakur's tight-knit buddies -- aren't warming to a tete-a-tete.
Few faces were hanging outside UMC Tuesday following Monday's 8 p.m. scuffle between Shakur loyalists and Metro Police's gang detail. Officers had been watching the area in the event of retaliatory violence for Saturday's shooting.
"We believe this was a gang-related shooting, and we want to make sure that everyone is safe," said gang Sgt. Cindi West. "Whether or not the people we stopped were gang members, they still have a right to grieve. And while there are a lot of people gathering outside the hospital, we've had no complaints about them."
The last time West could recall a large following of fans gathering for an injured star was mid-December 1994 when rodeo bull-rider Brent Thurman was stomped by a bull at a National Rodeo Finals event and lingered six days in a coma before dying.
Shakur's fans and friends shut down reporters who approached, angrily accusing the media of distorting how the shooting happened. Some left their cars parked in red-curbed emergency zones to hang out near the lobby doors to meet up with friends.
One man pointed fingers and yelled "reporter" to hospital security each time media entered the trauma center's lobby for condition updates.
The few in the crowd outside UMC who talked anonymously said the gunman, whoever he was, "will be taken care of."
As Metro Police try to sort fact and fiction among the rumors they hear, local rap and hip-hop fans are in a fierce fight over Shakur's music, produced under the Death Row Records label.
Death Row's president, Marion "Suge" Knight, 35, who is affiliated with the Compton, Calif.-based Bloods, gang, was driving the black BMW 750 when Shakur was hit by a drive-by gunman.
"I'm really tired of people saying this music is about gangs," said Warren Peace, rap director at KUNV 91.5-FM. "It's not about gangs -- the message is about what we can do to get by, cooperating with each other, and what we need to do."
And it's also about business, Peace said.
"Death Row Records has legendary ties to the Bloods in LA, but other people on the roster have ties to the Crips," Peace said. "Whatever the gang, they put that down as secondary to making money. And they're definitely making money. They're all business, but they don't forget their fan base in the streets, the people who got them where they are now."
Peace says the people he knows at Death Row -- Shakur and Knight among them -- are "very business minded."
A truce between the Crips and Bloods in Los Angeles a few years back was supposed to calm rivals who live the violent urban background that has turned Shakur, Snoop Doggy Dogg and other rappers into mega-stars.
Yet multimillion-dollar record sales prove that the attraction goes beyond gangland.
"You can't go around shooting people, but you can kind of live through the music," Peace said. "It's the same entertainment people get from watching Arnold Schwarzenegger. He blows people up, but it's not like a real shooting. This isn't just music about the black community or the gang community. It's the sound that people want, and the more attention Tupac gets makes people want it more."
March 11, 1997
Murders of two feuding rap artists prompt questions about coastal rivalry
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Both Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. said they hoped their music would bring positive change to inner cities, but with both men murdered, all eyes are again on violence in rap - and on the East-West feud.
The two rappers were the central characters in that rivalry, but some observers of the rap scene say focusing on that is unfair.
Phyllis Pollack, a publicist who has represented several rap stars, including the Geto Boys and N.W.A., said it's too early to speculate on what role the bicoastal feud had in their deaths.
"Sure, there's been this competition, but that's been since day one, but we don't have artists on the West Coast saying, 'Let's kill off all of those East Coast rappers so we can sell more records on the East Coast," she said.
Jesse Washington, managing editor of VIBE magazine, acknowledged there was animosity between the rappers but cautioned against trying to read too much into the deaths. VIBE magazine sponsored the party that B.I.G. attended before his death Sunday.
"I think all I can say right now is that it's too early to attribute this to a coastal rivalry, Tupac revenge or anything else because there's just so many different possibilities and aspects to this whole situation," said Washington, a former Associated Press reporter.
More importantly, Washington said, the deaths are a "sad reflection on the level of violence in our community."
But Chaka Zulu, a cousin of Tupac Shakur's, disagreed.
"I think to some extent this was a retaliation for Pac's death," said Zulu, who is music director for Atlanta-area rap station WHTA-FM. "I don't think it came out of Pac's camp, though. I think it came from people that are caught up in the hype of the music and the East-Coast-West Coast thing. As said as it is, it empowers some people to say, 'This is my coast!"'
The Notorious B.I.G., whose real name was Christopher Wallace, was leaving a party celebrating the Soul Train Awards when someone drove by and shot through the passenger side door of the GMC Suburban where he was sitting. The driver of B.I.G.'s car drove to a hospital, where 24-year-old Wallace was pronounced dead.
Los Angeles police Lt. Ross Moen said Wallace died of multiple 9 mm gunshot wounds to the upper body. Police were interviewing about 200 witnesses and hope to soon release a sketch of the gunman, who is described as black, in his early 20s and believed to be driving a dark-colored sedan.
The gunman pulled along side of Wallace's vehicle at a stop light and fired before speeding away. One of three vehicles in Wallace's group tried to follow the suspect, but couldn't keep up with him, Moen said.
"We're not overlooking any possibilities of a payback or gang-related type shooting, (and) we're not overlooking the fact that this was possibly a hit, a direct target, coming out of possibly New York. It could come out of L.A. It could come out of Atlanta," Moen said.
No arrests have been made in the September shooting of Shakur, 25, either.
Shakur was in Las Vegas with Death Row Records founder Marion "Suge" Knight on Sept. 7 when he was shot near the Las Vegas Strip while sitting in the passenger seat of Knight's car. Shakur was rushed to the hospital, but died one week later. Knight suffered minor injuries and has been described as uncooperative by Las Vegas police.
On Monday, Death Row Records, which Knight ran and that produced Shakur, sent official condolences to friends and family of B.I.G.
"Having just had the untimely death of one of our own, Tupac Shakur, by way of the same senseless violence, we do sympathize with those closest to Mr. Wallace," a statement read.
Relations between the two rappers, once best of friends, became hostile as they competed for fans, fame and women.
The rivalry developed in the 1980s as West Coast rappers grew in popularity, surpassing many East Coast rappers' record sales. The Notorious B.I.G. was credited with helping put the East Coast rap scene back on the map a few years ago while building his gangsta rap persona around authenticity.
The feud between Wallace and Shakur was more than just a regional rivalry, however. It was very personal. It accelerated in 1994 after Shakur was robbed of $40,000 worth of jewelry and shot several times. Shakur, who was born in the Bronx but lived in California as an adult, claimed Wallace was behind the attack.
Wallace, also known as Biggie Smalls, always denied involvement, but Shakur held fast to his belief.
Shakur also claimed to have slept with Faith Evans, Wallace's estranged wife. Shakur bragged about his conquest in a song.
*Contributing to this story were staff writers Paula Story in Los Angeles and Nekesa Moody in Albany, N.Y.
Tupac Shakur dead at 25
Rapper hit in drive-by shooting last week September 13, 1996
LAS VEGAS (CNN) -- Tupac Shakur, the rapper whose raw lyrics seemed a blueprint of his own violent life, died Friday from wounds suffered in a drive-by shooting. He was 25.
Shakur, his mother at his bedside, was pronounced dead at 7:03 p.m. EDT at the University Medical Center in Las Vegas, according to hospital spokeswoman Nancy Collins.
Collins said doctors determined Shakur died from respiratory failure and cardiopulmonary arrest. The rapper had been in a medical-induced coma after having his right lung removed earlier this week.
Shakur was hit by four bullets September 7 as he rode near the Las Vegas Strip in a car driven by the head of Death Row Records, Marion "Suge" Knight, who was slightly wounded. It was the second time in less than two years that the rapper was gunned down.
The Las Vegas attackers got away, and no arrests have been made.
Controversial career
Known simply as 2Pac, with "Thug Life" tattooed across his stomach, Shakur embodied the extremes of pop culture. Fans loved him, buying millions of his records, while politicians and others denounced both him and his lyrics for glorifying violence and drugs and degrading women.
He was born Tupac Amaru Shakur in 1971 in New York City. His mother, Afeni Shakur, is a former Black Panther activist and the inspiration for the touching song "Dear Mama" on his Grammy-nominated album "Me Against The World."
As a member of the Grammy-nominated group Digital Underground, he appeared in 1991 on the track "Same Song" from "This is an EP Release" and on the album "Sons Of The P."
That same year, Shakur achieved individual recognition with the album "2Pacalypse Now," which spawned the successful singles "Trapped" and "Brenda's Got A Baby."
The album, with references to police officers being killed, drew notoriety when a slain police officer's family claimed Shakur's music drove the killer to action. By that time, Shakur had made his first film appearance in Earnest Dickerson's "Juice."
In the 1992 John Singleton film, "Poetic Justice," Shakur co- starred opposite pop singer Janet Jackson. But Shakur seemed to spend as much time in courtrooms and jail cells than he did on movie sets.
A 1993 confrontation with two off-duty Atlanta police officers led to charges that were later dropped.
In 1994, he was sentenced to 15 days in jail for assault and battery on a music video producer.
hen, in November 1994, he was shot five times and robbed of $40,000 worth of jewelry in the lobby of a New York recording studio.
In 1995, Shakur was found guilty of sexually assaulting a female fan in a New York hotel room. He served eight months before winning release pending his appeal. In 1996, a judge ordered him to serve 120 days in jail for probation violations. An appeal was pending, and he had recently completed filming a role as a detective for the Orion picture "Gang Related."
'Soldiers are out there'
When the rapper appeared at the MTV Video Awards three days before the Las Vegas shooting, he explained why he stayed in touch with members of his "posse" by two-way radio.
"Well today, every young black man needs to be physically inclined and military-minded," he said. "And this (two-way radio) is part of the military mind. The soldiers are out there.
"I'm not the same guy that would come to the awards, have a problem with somebody and whup their ass in front of everybody," Shakur continued. "So now I got the radio. I see a problem, we quelch it. It's out. No big fires, just small, tiny little sparks that can be put out."
"That shows my growth," he said. "That shows our brain power. That shows the organization and not just Tupac, but Death Row as a whole."
Still there was trouble.
Police were called into the awards show to break up a confrontation between Shakur's entourage and six other men.
The night he was hit by four bullets, Shakur and his entourage had been involved in a fight outside their Las Vegas hotel.
Yet Shakur was not just the fury, expletives and anger of songs like "F--- the World." He could be poignant ("It was hell hugging on my mama from a jail cell") and both sympathetic and critical of young black men trying to become "gangstas."
He even admitted to being tired of the gangsta lifestyle.
"Thug Life to me is dead. If it's real, let somebody else represent it, because I'm tired of it," Shakur told Vibe magazine. "I represented it too much. I was Thug Life."
Still, there were forebodings of a violent ending.
When Shakur talked to Details magazine earlier this year, he said: "All good niggers, all the niggers who change the world, die in violence. They don't die in regular ways."
Tupac Shakur is Dead
by Jeff B. Copeland and Marcus Errico
Sep 13, 1996, 5:15 PM PT
Rap star Tupac Shakur is dead.
The University Medical Center in Las Vegas announced that Shakur died today at 4:03 p.m. local time of "respiratory failure and cardiopulmonary arrest."
The 25-year-old was shot last Saturday as he rode in a car driven by Death Row Records chairman "Suge" Knight near the Las Vegas strip. Knight was slightly wounded in the attack. On Sunday, doctors removed Shakur's right lung, but he lingered on in critical condition.
Not since John Lennon was shot on the streets of New York has a major entertainment figure been murdered at the height of his popularity. Like the Lennon shooting, Shakur's death is certain to echo far beyond the rap music world. "Everybody has to learn from this," said one caller to KPWR, Los Angeles' biggest rap station, Friday night. "There's no hiding from violence."
Shakur, Knight and a group of bodyguards and friends set off from the Mike Tyson bout Saturday night in a convoy of ten cars. Witnesses say a white Cadillac pulled alongside, then nine shots raked Knight's black BMW, hitting Shakur several times in the chest.
Police say they have no leads in the case and have expressed frustration with how the investigation is going. Sgt. Kevin Manning said earlier this week that "we did not receive a whole lot of cooperation from most of [Shakur's] entourage. It amazes me when they have professional bodyguards that they can't even give us an accurate description of the vehicle." Shakur was seen arguing with an unidentified man just after the Tyson fight, but investigators ruled him out as a suspect. The department has offered a $1,000 reward for information.
Tupac and other West Coast rappers have had a long-running rivalry with East Coast rappers, and the hit sent conspiracy theories about a revenge killing rocketing through the music industry. Shakur and other West Coast rappers had to be pulled apart from their New York adversaries at the MTV Video Music Awards last week.
"Suge" Knight is reputed to be close to the Bloods, the L.A.-based gang--also raising suspicion that their deadly rivals, the Crips, were somehow involved.
The shooting is certain to rekindle the debate about whether rap promotes violence or just reflects the ugly mood of the streets. Indeed the aura of violence that hangs around the music genre makes it easier to think that, in some way, Shakur--a man with the words "Thug Life" tattooed on his chest--had it coming. He'd already been nearly killed in 1994 when gunmen robbed and shot him outside a Manhattan recording studio. Among other recent scrapes with the law, he served eight months in prison in New York for sexual abuse and was released last year.
Still, Shakur's songs had plenty to say against the gun culture of the ghetto. In "Young Niggaz," he sang, "Don't wanna be another statistic out here doin' nothin'/Tryin' to maintain in this dirty game/Keep it real and I will even if it kills me/My young niggaz stay away from these dumb niggaz/Put down the gun and have some fun nigga."
Friday night, reaction poured in to rap stations. Callers flooded the airwaves at KPWR in Los Angeles, as disk jockey Big Boy played songs in memory of Shakur. "A whole lot of people are sad, whole lot of people angry," said one caller. Another denounced the gangsta lifestyle. "This shit's got to stop," he said. "Something like this brings the whole world together--ain't no East Coast-West Coast, color thing," Big Boy said as the caller hung up.
Tupac Amaru Shakur was born in 1971 in New York. His mother, Afeni Shakur, a member of the radical Black Panther party, had just been released from prison after being acquitted of bomb-conspiracy charges. He grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and Oakland, California.
Shakur told Details magazine earlier this year: "All good niggers, all the niggers who change the world, die in violence. They don't die in regular ways."
Obituary of Tupac Shakur
(September 13, 1996) LAS VEGAS (CNN) -- Tupac Shakur, the rapper whose raw lyrics seemed a blueprint of his own violent life, died Friday from wounds suffered in a drive-by shooting. He was 25.
Shakur, with his mother at his bedside, was pronounced dead at 7:03 p.m. EDT at the University Medical Center in Las Vegas, according to hospital spokeswoman Nancy Collins.
Collins said doctors determined Shakur died from respiratory failure and cardiopulmonary arrest. The rapper had been in a medical-induced coma after having his right lung removed earlier this week.
Shakur was hit by four bullets September 7 as he rode near the Las Vegas Strip in a car driven by the head of Death Row Records, Marion "Suge" Knight, who was slightly wounded. It was the second time in less than two years that the rapper was gunned down.
The Las Vegas attackers got away, and no arrests have been made.
Controversial career
Known simply as 2Pac, with "Thug Life" tattooed across his stomach, Shakur embodied the extremes of pop culture. Fans loved him, buying millions of his records, while politicians and others denounced both him and his lyrics for glorifying violence and drugs and degrading women.
He was born Tupac Amaru Shakur in 1971 in New York City. His mother, Afeni Shakur, is a former Black Panther activist and the inspiration for the touching song "Dear Mama" on his Grammy-nominated album Me Against The World.
As a member of the Grammy-nominated group Digital Underground, he appeared in1991 on the track "Same Song" from This is an EP Release and on the album Sons Of The P.
That same year, Shakur achieved individual recognition with the album 2Pacalypse Now, which spawned the successful singles "Trapped" and "Brenda's Got A Baby."
The album, with references to police officers being killed, drew notoriety when a slain police officer's family claimed Shakur's music drove the killer to action. By that time, Shakur had made his first film appearance in Ernest Dickerson's Juice.
In the 1992 John Singleton film, Poetic Justice, Shakur co-starred opposite pop singer Janet Jackson. But Shakur seemed to spend as much time in courtrooms and jail cells as he did on movie sets. A 1993 confrontation with two off-duty Atlanta police officers led to charges that were later dropped.
In 1994, he was sentenced to 15 days in jail for assault and battery on a music video producer. Then, in November 1994, he was shot five times and robbed of $40,000 worth of jewelry in the lobby of a New York recording studio. In 1995, Shakur was found guilty of sexually assaulting a female fan in a New York hotel room. He served eight months before winning release pending his appeal. Earlier this year, a judge ordered him to serve 120 days in jail for probation violations. An appeal was pending, and he had recently completed filming a role as a detective for the Orion picture Gang Related.
When the rapper appeared at the MTV Video Awards three days before the Las Vegas shooting, he explained why he stayed in touch with members of his "posse" by two-way radio.
"Well today, every young black man needs to be physically inclined and military-minded," he said. "And this (two-way radio) is part of the military mind. The soldiers are out there."
"I'm not the same guy that would come to the awards, have a problem with somebody and whup their ass in front of everybody," Shakur continued. "So now I got the radio. I see a problem, we quelch it. It's out. No big fires, just small, tiny little sparks that can be put out." "That shows my growth," he said. "That shows our brain power. That shows the organization and not just Tupac, but Death Row as a whole." Still there was trouble. Police were called into the awards show to break up a confrontation between Shakur's entourage and six other men.
The night he was hit by four bullets, Shakur and his entourage had been involved in a fight outside their Las Vegas hotel.
Yet Shakur was not just the fury, expletives and anger of songs like "F--- the World." He could be poignant ("It was hell hugging on my mama from a jail cell") and both sympathetic and critical of young black men trying to become "gangstas." He even admitted to being tired of the gangsta lifestyle. "Thug Life to me is dead. If it's real, let somebody else represent it, because I'm tired of it," Shakur told Vibe magazine. "I represented it too much. I was Thug Life." Still, there were foreshadowings of a violent ending.
When Shakur talked to Details magazine earlier this year, he said: "All good niggas, all the niggas who change the world, die in violence. They don't die in regular ways."
SLAIN RAPPER Tupac Shakur is shown in this Dec. 16, 1993 file photo. Police have arrested a 22-year-old gang member in connection with the execution-style killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, ABC reported Wednesday, Oct. 2, 1996. Shakur, one of rap's most successful and notorious singers, was shot following a boxing match Sept. 7, 1996, in Las Vegas. He died a week later. ABC radio reported that the 22-year-old man and others were arrested in an ongoing police sweep. The Compton Police Department declined to comment about the arrest report.
