19 July 2023 , 15:51
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Rapper Tupac Shakur was fatally struck by four bullets at a red light outside Las Vegas' popular Club 662 in 1996.
Since his tragic death his murderer has yet to be brought to justice despite there being plenty of onlookers. While it's over two decades lates, police believe they could be onto something and on Monday Las Vegas police searched a home in connection with the murder.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told The Mirror: "LVMPD can confirm a search warrant was served in Henderson, Nevada on July 17, 2023, as part of the ongoing Tupac Shakur homicide investigation. We will have no further comment at this time."
During the shooting back in the late 1990s, several people were said to have witnessed the white Cadillac pull up to the right of Tupac's friend and Death Row Records boss Suge Knight's black BMW before the shots were fired.
Tupac was killed in a drive-by shooting (The LIFE Images Collection via G)With wounds to his chest, arm and thigh, Tupac was rushed to ER, where he fought for life for six long days before he died from respiratory failure and cardiac arrest after having a lung removed.
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During that nail-biting time, his entourage maintained a constant vigil, fearing that the gunmen could return to take another pop.
An immediate wall of silence was erected by the Death Row crew, who refused to name the shooter. Despite being hit in the head by bullet fragments and spending the night in hospital, Suge told police he "heard something, but saw nothing".
Tupac's friend Suge Knight refused to say anything
The rapper also refused to reveal who his shooter was (Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)He'd later quip: “It’s not my job. I don’t get paid to solve homicides. I don’t get paid to tell on people.”
Tupac himself refused to name his killer at the murder scene, whispering "f*** you" to an investigating police officer in what would apparently be his last words before his death on Friday, September 13, 1996.
The main suspect was Orlando Anderson, who'd been attacked by Tupac and his crew in the lobby of Las Vegas' MGM Grand casino earlier that night.
Anderson, then 21, was said to be a member of the rival Crips gang and had allegedly stolen a medallion from one of Tupac's entourage.
Fans believe he faked his death (Getty Images)He later denied having had anything to do with the killing and filed a lawsuit against Tupac's estate for damages for injuries sustained in the beating.
Tupac's mother Afeni Shakur responded by attempting to sue Anderson for wrongful death. According to the Associated Press, the lawsuits were settled in May 1998, just hours before Anderson was killed in an unrelated gang shooting.
Conspiracy theories that Tupac faked his own death to escape everything from mounting debts, the pressures of fame and the paranoia of gang warfare continue to circulate 26 years on.