Transcript: 4. The Shooting of Tupac Shakur | USA

This is The Evidence Locker.

Our cases have been researched using open source and archive materials. It deals with true crimes and real people. Each episode is produced with the utmost respect to the victims, their families and loved ones. 

It was September 7th 1996 – a balmy night in Las Vegas, Nevada. Thousands of people flocked to the glitzy city to watch the Heavyweight title boxing match between Mike Tyson and Bruce Sheldon. It was the hottest ticket in town: celebrities and millionaires streamed into the MGM Grand to watch the fight.

It only took Tyson 50 seconds to knock Sheldon out. Some spectators had not even made it to their seats yet and it was all over.

Tyson and Sheldon’s was not the only fight of the night. Around 8:30, an altercation had broken out in the main lobby of the MGM Grand. The man who threw the first punch was hip hop sensation, Tupac Shakur. His entourage jumped in to support him, but the fight did not last long. Security guards at the MGM broke it up in half a minute.

The man at the receiving end of the punch-up was a man called Orlando Anderson. He composed himself and told security guards that he did not want to press charges. And it was left at that. 

Tupac and his men went to the hotel where he was staying, so he could change and get ready for his midnight performance at a new club, owned by his music producer and manger, Suge Knight. 

But he never did make it to that performance. By the end of the night, the 25-year-old Tupac Shakur was dead.

>>Intro Music

In the mid-1990’s, Tupac Shakur was a household name. He was a rapper and his album ‘All Eyez on Me’ along with his ‘Greatest Hits’ were among the Best Selling albums in the United States.

Tupac,  also known at the time by his alias Makaveli, is consistently ranked as one of the most influential rappers to ever hold a microphone. 

But the road to the top of the rapping-world wasn’t always a smooth one. In fact, it was his tough childhood that inspired most of his lyrics and poems. His vision was to connect with the people in the ghetto on an inspirational level. He wanted to tell what he saw on the streets: violence, injustice, prejudice, but he did so in a very eloquent and poetic way.

Tupac was born on June 16th 1971 in East Harlem, New York City. When he was born, his name was Lesane Parish Crooks. A year later, his mother changed his name to Tupac, which means ‘Shining serpent’. He was named after Tupac Amaru the Second, a Peruvian revolutionary who was executed after leading an indigenous uprising against Spanish rule. 

His parents, Afeni Shakur and Billy Garland were both active members of the far-left Black Panther party. In fact, when Afeni was pregnant with Tupac, she stood trial for than 150 charges of “Conspiracy against the United States Government and New York landmarks”. Afeni, heavily pregnant at the time defended herself in court, calling witnesses and argued her case. In May 1971, a month before Tupac was born, his mom was acquitted of all charges.

When he was growing up, Tupac’s father was hardly ever around. It was up to Afeni to raise her son and she did the best she could. They lived in extreme poverty and Tupac was exposed to life on the streets from a very young age. 

However, he found his escape in poetry and literature. To escape the grim reality surrounding him, he read a lot. He would attribute a lot of his success as an artist to growing up with books.

In 1986 Afeni and Tupac moved to Baltimore. After two years at a public high school, his mom managed to enrol him at The Baltimore School of Arts. Tupac thrived. From day one it was clear that this passionate young man had a flair for performing, be it acting, dancing or rapping. There was something special about Tupac. He could perform in a Shakespeare play and then compete in a rap competition and win. 

But despite his success at school, all was not well at the home front. Afeni had boyfriends, sometimes it would turn abusive. She would not let Tupac defend her. Baltimore was also one of the most dangerous cities in the States at the time. The situation was reaching boiling point, so Afeni thought it would be safer for Tupac to move to California, where he could stay with relatives.

Tupac lived in an area five miles (or eight kilometres) north of San Francisco, called Marin City. As it turns out, life in Marin City was not much different to life in Baltimore. The area was known for its frequent fist fights. And Tupac, who was on the slight side, never shied away from a fight. He was familiar with life on the streets and violence did not scare him.

When his mom moved to California to join him, their relationship took some strain. Afeni was a crack addict and Tupac hated the world of drugs and addiction. But in that environment, he was soon drawn into selling drugs himself. After dealing for a while, he realised that this was not the life he wanted. It affected him deeply if people would offer family heirlooms or wedding rings in exchange for drugs, he couldn’t handle it anymore.

So he went back to what he was best at: rapping. In high school he wrote an English paper, titled “Conquering All Obstacles”. He wrote:

"Our raps, not the sorry story raps everyone is so tired of. They are about what happens in the real world. Our goal is [to] have people relate to our raps, making it easier to see what really is happening out there. Even more important, what we may do to better our world.”

Tupac formed his first rap band, Strictly Dope, around this time. He caught the eye of Shock G – a well-known name on the Oakland rap-scene. He offered Tupac and opportunity to perform as a dancer and MC with his group, Digital Underground.  

This was the right break at the right time of Tupac Shakur’s life. He went on a world tour with Digital Underground. On tour, Tupac graduated from dancer to the mic during the tour – with great reaction of fans. Tupac featured with Digital Underground on the soundtrack to the film Nothing but Trouble and he also appeared with the group in the film. 

His time was Digital Underground had launched him and he was ready to do his own thing. In November 1991, he released his debut album, 2pacalypse Now. He was rapping about the cold reality of living on the streets. His songs stand up for the downtrodden and people who thought there was no way out. The album did not have any hit songs, but it certainly put Tupac on the map. 

Songs like ‘Brenda’s got baby’ and ‘Trapped’ caused a stir for commenting on social injustice. When a young man accused of shooting a state trooper in Texas said he was inspired to do so after listening to Tupac’s album, Vice President Dan Quayle said:

"There's no reason for a record like this to be released. It has no place in our society." 

Despite its controversy, 2pacalypse Now was certified ‘Gold’ by the Recording Industry Association of America. 

Tupac wasn’t only climbing the Billboards, he was making his mark at the box office. He loved acting since his high school days. After his stint in Nothing but Trouble with Digital Underground, he was eager to make more films. Juice was his first leading role, followed by Poetic Justice, Above the Rim, Bullet, Grid Lock’d and Gang Related. He managed to juggle a rocketing movie career at the same time as he was acing his music career. 

In 1993 Tupac formed the band Thug Life with some friends and his older step brother, Mopreme ‘Komani’ Shakur. They released their first album, Thug Life: Volume 1, in September 1993 and it went Gold.

He loved recording and, according to his cousin, Jamala Lesane, Tupac was probably his own biggest fan. Whenever he listened to his own music, he would say:

“Oh my God, the boy is nice!”

And that he sure was. He connected with men, women, black, white, old and young. Upper-middle class white people were buying his records, excited by the danger of his lyrics. Tupac

was adamant that he had to stay real. This was the only way he would connect to the people he felt he was writing for, the kids on the street – kids who were living in the ghetto as he once did. 

British writer, Rob Marriott described Tupac’s signature way of tying his bandana into rabbit ears as one of hip hop’s most recognisable style choices.

In his early twenties, Tupac was a rising star. He met a girl called Keisha Morris in a night club and fell in love. But it was a complicated time for him. Even though success came to Tupac, it came saddled with envy and trouble. He had a loud mouth and wasn’t scared to say the truth of what he thought about anyone and everyone from the US government to drug dealers.

Tupac was proud to call himself a thug:

“I am gonna say that I’m a thug, that’s because I’m from the gutter and I’m still here.”

He was a hot-headed loud mouth and that often landed him in trouble. Trouble that he would face fists-up. In LA, he was convicted of assaulting a music video producer after a disagreement. At a concert at Michigan State University he assaulted a local rapper with a baseball bat – a fight that bought him ten days in jail.

In New York, a female fan accused Tupac and three of his friends of sexually assaulting her in a hotel room. It was in the time of this trial that he was courting Keisha Morris, in fact he stayed with her in her apartment. Keisha was young and did not know what to believe, but Tupac was very serious about her. He treated her with respect and she was in love with him. Although the circumstances for their courtship wasn’t ideal, their relationship was strong.

On the night of November 30th 1994, as he arrived at Quad Recording Studios in Manhattan, he was ambushed. Tupac was shot at close range – five times. He was also robbed of all his jewellery, valued at $40,000. He was rushed to hospital and survived the attack. Less than five hours after surgery, against doctors’ orders, Tupac released himself from hospital.

Tupac was on trial and he had to appear in court. Still recovering from his attack, attending court in his wheelchair, Tupac was acquitted of sodomy and weapons charges, but found guilty of sexual abuse, or forcibly touching the woman’s buttocks. He was sentenced to the maximum time, up to four and a half years behind bars.

Before he went to prison, Tupac proposed to Keisha Morris. She visited him as often as she could, daily if it was possible. The couple married four months into his prison stint. 

After Tupac had served 10 months of his four and a half year sentence, he received a visit from Suge Knight, the godfather of hip hop. Suge, founder of Death Row Records, offered Tupac a deal: he would finance Tupac’s appeal and pay the appellate bond of $1.4M, if Tupac would sign a record deal with Death Row records.

Tupac was ready to resume his freedom and agreed to the deal. He was released in October 1995 and went straight to the recording studio to record the album “Me Against The World”. The album would go platinum and stay at the top of the Billboard 200 charts for four weeks.

In 1996, Tupac and Keisha had their marriage annulled. They were both very young and felt that had married for the wrong reasons. Keisha went back to New York and Tupac stayed in California. 

Is next album, “All Eyez on Me”, , released in 1996, sold over five million copies, out-selling the Rolling Stones and Madonna. It went platinum in only three weeks. He had been etched into music history – a force to be reckoned with.

In an interview in Spain, American music journalist Chuck Phillips commented on the rise of a new kind of poet:

"I like sacred texts, myths, proverbs, and scriptures. [...] When Tupac came along, I thought he was quite the poet [...] It wasn't just how cleverly they rhymed. It wasn't just the rhythm or the cadence. I liked their attitude. It was protest music in a way nobody had ever thought about before. [...]These artists were brave, wise and smart – wickedly smart. Tupac had so many sides. He was unafraid to write about his vulnerabilities." 

Tupac had the world at his feet. He had many famous friends, like Snoop Dogg, Rosie Perez, Marlon Wayans, Jim Carey and Jada Pinkett Smith. Jada and Tupac were very close – he said that she was his heart and that she would be his friend for his whole life. He even wrote a poem titled ‘Jada’ that was published in his book ‘The Rose That Grew From Concrete.’

One of Tapuc’s very close friends was a rapper from the East Coast called Christpher  Wallace – otherwise known as The Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls as his friends called him. The two rappers had a lot in common: they both grew up poor, without fathers in neighbourhoods where crime was rife and drugs were a part of life. 

While Tupac grew up in East Harlem and Baltimore and Biggie grew up in Brooklyn’s Bedford Stuyvesant (or Bed-Stuy). Biggie often rapped about the criminality and violence in Bed-Stuy, so both were storytellers of their circumstance. 

Around 1993, Tupac Shakur was just slightly ahead in the rapping game. But he mentored his friend, Biggie, and let him crash on his couch whenever Biggie was in California. 

Biggie’s first break came when his album “Ready to Die” went platinum. Many people felt that Biggie’s music echoed Tupac’s style. In the wake of his new-found fame, Biggie never mentioned Tupac’s input and mentorship. After everything Tupac had done for Biggie, he had expected more from him.

Biggie was signed with Sean P Diddy Combes’ label, Bad Boy Records. Combes and Biggie were also good friends. They were looking ahead to the Big Time for Biggie, who was recording under the stage name of The Notorious B.I.G.

Before Biggie’s landmark album, West Coast rap was the most prominent on US charts. But when East Coast rappers had a hat in the ring and rivalry was about to rev up. The media had a field day, blowing up the situation between once-were-friends Tupac and Biggie. It was believed at the time that their feud sparked the whole rivalry between East Coast and West Coast rappers. 

Things took a turn for the worst when Tupac blamed Biggie, Sean Combs and their associates for orchestrating his robbery and shooting in November 1994. Biggie and his entourage were in the recording studios when Tupac arrived, but he denied having prior knowledge of the attack. 

Tupac wanted to set the record straight regarding the rivalry:

“This is all about my image, it has nothing to do with me… I’m selling records, that’s what I do for a living. Don’t get it twisted. This is not my real life. This is not how my real life is supposed to be. I’m not supposed to have all these villains in my life.”

In 1995, after Tupac’s release from prison, when he signed with Death Row Records, the feud grew even more intense. Death Row founder, Suge Knight and Sean P Diddy Combes (who founded Bad Boy Entertainment) did not see eye to eye. Now Tupac was with Death Row and Biggie was with Bad Boy Records.

The labels were also associated with the Crips and Bloods gangs. Crips members were always seen wearing blue and Bloods Red. It’s no secret that the gangs were in a constant state of conflict in the 1990s.

With his love for acting and theatre, Tupac understood the Shakespearean psychology of inter-gang wars and inter-cultural conflict. This was what he said in an interview in 1995, comparing the East Coast/West Coast rivalry to a Shakespearean drama:

“I love Shakespeare. He wrote some of the rawest stories, man. I mean look at Romeo and Julier. That’s some serious ghetto shit. You got this guy Romeo from the Bloods who falls for Juliet, a female from the Crips, and everybody in both gangs is against them. So they have to sneak out and they end up dead for nothing. Real tragic stuff. And look how Shakespeare busts it up with Macbeth. He creates a tale about this king’s wife who convinces a happy man to chase after her and kill her husband so he can take over the country. After he commits the murder, the dude starts having delusions just like in a Scarface song. I mean the king's wife just screws this guy's whole life up for nothing.”

In June 1996, Tupac was still fuming after being shot and sent to jail. To retaliate, he did what he did best and wrote a song about it. The song turned out to be a battle song launching war against Biggie. “Hit ‘em up”  is the ultimate name and shame song. In it Tupac even claims that he slept with Biggie’s wife, R&B singer, Faith Evans. 

Here are some of the lyrics of “Hit ‘em up”:

You claim to be a player, but I fucked your wife

We bust on Bad Boys, niggas fucked for life

Plus Puffy trying to see me, weak hearts I rip

Biggie Smalls and Junior M.A.F.I.A. some mark-ass bitches

We keep on coming while we running for your jewels

Steady gunning, keep on busting at them fools.

See, grab your Glock when you see 2Pac

Call the cops when you see 2Pax, oh

Who shot me, but your punks didn’t finish

Now you about to feel the wrath of a menace

Nigga, I hit ‘em up

Biggie, remember when I used to let you sleep on the couch

And beg a bitch to let you sleep in the house?

Now it’s all Versace, you copied my style

Five shots couldn’t drop me, I took it and smiled

Now I’m back to set the record straight

With my AK, I’m still the thug you love to hate.

Biggie was enraged, especially about Tupac’s claim that he had slept with Biggie’s wife. Rumour has it that Biggie said to gang members that he was willing to pay big money for Tupac to be killed. 

Tupac was chuffed that he could finally say what he wanted to say. He knew it would get under Biggie’s skin and he loved every moment. When his bodyguard, Frank Alexander, heard  , he knew Tupac was looking for trouble. He jokingly suggested that they should get more security.

On September 6th 1996, Tupac was recording a music video at Lacey Studios in downtown LA. After a long day, he went to his apartment in Calabasas that he shared with his finacé Kidada Jones. Kidada is the daughter of music industry icon, Quincy Jones.  When he arrived home he was so exhausted, he went straight to bed.

When he woke up, his cousin, Jamala Lesane, was there. She reminded him that they were due in Las Vegas later that day. It was the day of the heavyweight title between Tyson and Sheldon and Tupac midnight performance at a Las Vegas night club. 

Tupac didn’t really want to go, he had some family issues, but with pressure from his record producer, Suge Knight, he did go along. 

Tupac, Kidada, Jamala and the rest of his entourage arrived in Vegas at 3 pm. By this time Tupac’s spirits were high and he was eager to start gambling. He made his way to the craps table and lady luck was smiling: he did pretty well. His good friends, the members of his back-up group, Immortal Outlawz, joined him and cheered him on. 

After an afternoon of happy gambling, Tupac and his entourage went back to their hotel to freshen up. He said his girlfriend and cousin should stay in the hotel room, when the guys went to the boxing match. The ladies weren’t too happy about being left behind, but Tupac pleaded with them not to go out. Not wanting to argue, the agreed and Tupac went out on a boys night with the men in his entourage.

When they arrived at the MGM Grand to watch the fight, it was no surprise that Tupac’s arrival caused quite a stir. Adoring fans called out his name, women wanted to touch him… He was revered. But his bodyguard was on high alert, still nervous after the provoking release of “Hit ‘em up”. Frank Alexander knew that the dig at Biggie would upset many people. So as the crowd closed in on Tupac at the MGM, his bodyguard asked some security guards for assistance in moving through to the main arena.

The men went through to watch Tyson’s fight, which seemed to be over before it started. Afterwards they went to the locker room to congratulate Tyson, as he was good friends with Tupac. 

There was a lot of excitement in the air as they left Tyson. Everybody was pumped up about the 50 second knock-out. As they walked, they were throwing air punches and laughing. Tupac’s entourage on that night consisted of Tupac, Suge, bodyguards and some gang members who were part of the ‘Bloods’ gang, who were on Death Row’s payroll.

When the group walked into the lobby of the MGM Grand, one of the gang members noticed someone standing by the elevators. He went to Tupac and whispered into his ear and he had all of the rap-star’s attention. 

The man standing by the elevator was called Orlando “Little Lane” Anderson. He was a member of the Southside Crips. 

Months earlier, Orlando had robbed and beaten one of Tupac’s bodyguards in a Footlocker Store in Lakeview. To add insult to injury, Anderson also ripped a prized Death Row medallion from the bodyguard’s neck – a metaphorical middle finger to Suge Knight and the Bloods.

The Bloods were not going to let him get away with this. And seeing Anderson, all by himself and unaware of their entrance, was like fate serving him up on a silver platter. 

Tupac headed straight for Anderson and reportedly said: “You from the South?” But Tupac did not give Anderson a chance to answer and threw a punch at him. At this point Tupac’s entourage joined in kicking and fighting. Frank Alexander grabbed Tupac and pulled him out of the fight. When MGM security guards stepped in, the fight stopped. 

The whole incident was captured on the hotel’s video surveillance.

After the two fights, Tupac and his entourage went back to the hotel room where Kidada and Jamala were still waiting. The men were excited and happy and told the women how they threw punches like Mike Tyson.

Tupac was a funny guy, so the girls laughed it off as he told his animated version of events. He did not mention who the man was or why they punched him. It was time for Tupac to get ready for his midnight performance at Club 622.

Kidada felt uneasy after hearing about the fight and reminded Tupac to wear his bulletproof vest. It wasn’t strange for Tupac to wear a vest, he did so regularly after his attack in New York. But on that Saturday night Tupac said it was too hot and that he didn’t want to wear  a vest. 

Again, the men left and the women stayed behind in the hotel room. 

On their way to Club 662, Tupac and his entourage made a quick stop at Suge Knight’s house. The house is adorned in all things red. Suge, who originally came from Compton was not afraid to advertise the fact that his affiliation was with the Bloods. 

Although Tupac knew some of the Bloods in his entourage, he was not gang affiliated. He specifically didn’t like to wear blue or red. In fact, on this particular night, he wore green.

The convoy of cars left Suge’s house and made its way to Suge’s club. As they reached Las Vegas Boulevard, they were driving slowly as they had some time to kill. Suge was driving the black BMW leading the convoy, driving with him was Tupac. Behind them was Tupac’s bodyguard, Frank Alexander, Atlanta rapper E.D.I. Mean and XX. They were followed by three other cars with people associated with Death Row. 

Just after 11 pm, they were pulled over by a policeman on a bicycle for driving without licence plates and playing the car stereo too loudly. They turned down the music and found the number plates in the trunk of the car Suge was driving, so the officer let them go without a ticket.

They turned onto Flamingo Road and stopped behind a car at a red traffic light. Another car with two women drove up next to them at the traffic light, on the driver’s side and start flirting, asking where they were heading. Tupac and Suge told the women where they were headed and invited them to join them.

Both Tupac and Suge were talking to the ladies and did not notice a white Cadillac pulling up on the passenger side, where Tupac was sitting. The car Tupac and Suge was travelling in was effectively boxed in, there was nowhere to go. Out of the back seat window of the Cadillac came a hand holding a gun. Out of nowhere a rain of bullets showered Suge’s car and there was smoke everywhere. 

Suge Knight will never forget these moments:

"We heard shots and looked to the right of us… Tupac was trying to get in the back seat, and I grabbed him and pulled him down. The gunshots kept coming. One hit my head."

From the car behind them, friends watched as they were being gunned down. 

"It all happened so quick. It took three or four seconds at most," E.D.I. Mean said.

The Cadillac sped off and everyone was numb with shock about what they had witnessed. Some bicycle cops saw the incident and called for backup. 

Tupac’s bodyguard, Frank Alexander got out of his car, because he was certain both Tupac and Suge were either dead or badly injured. To his surprise, Suge was still alive and  started driving off. He made a U-turn, heading back to Las Vegas Boulevard, fleeing from the assailant. Frank got back into his car and followed them. In the confusion of the moment, the bicycle police men followed the two BMW’s, thinking that the men in the BMW were shooting at each other.

Suge rammed the car into the curb on the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Harmon. Police ran to the scene, still thinking the people inside the bullet-riddled black BMW were the assailants rather than the victims. They commanded them to exit the vehicles. Suge, who was shot himself, did not want to leave the badly injured Tupac was losing consciousness. 

Police commanded Suge and the rest of the entourage out of their cars and made them lie down on the tarmac at gun point. Frank Alexander told police what had happened and that Suge and Tupac were both victims. The gunman drove off in a white Cadillac. 

Attention moved to Tupac in the passenger seat of the car, and police struggled to open the door of the BMW. So Suge went across and did it. They managed to pull Tupac out of the car and rush him to University Medical Centre. 

Suge Knight was hit by fragmentation, but was otherwise unharmed.

When Tupac arrived, he wasn’t conscious anymore. He was rushed in to emergency surgery in a massive effort to save his life. Tupac was badly injured: all up, he had received four gunshot wounds. The first bullet went into his hand and damaged his pinkie finger. The second bullet went into his thighbone and ricocheted to his abdomen. The third and fourth bullets went into his chest, of which penetrated his lung.

Surgeons managed to stabalise him for a while. They thought internal bleeding was coming from his lunge, so removed the lunge and put him Tupac on a respirator. But the internal bleeding persisted. 25-year old Tupac Shakur was fighting for his life. 

There were many people in hospital, eagerly waiting for good news about Tupac’s condition. His mom tried her best to stay positive. Kidada was by his side all the time. Tupac always had a premonition that he would die young. When he turned 21, he was surprised that he made it into adulthood alive. Was the premonition coming true in right in front of them? 

Word on the street had it that Tupac’s shooting was the result of the friction between the Crips and Bloods gangs. While Tupac was fighting for his life in a Las Vegas hospital, a gang war erupted in Compton. The Bloods wanted revenge on the Crips, the mission being [to kill] ‘A Crip a Day’. They sent a clear message by executing a number of drive-by shootings. The shootings resulted in the death of three people and left 12 people injured. The youngest victim was a 10-year-old girl who was shot and injured. Police arrested 22 people in connection with this retaliation.

Six days after Tupac Shakur was gunned down on the streets of Las Vegas, succumbed to internal bleeding caused by gunshots. He was pronounced dead at 4pm in the afternoon of September 13th 1996. His loved ones were with him when he passed away.

His stepbrother, Komani, who often recorded and performed with Tupac, remembered how Tupac was shaking in his hospital bed. He was fighting to stay alive – a warrior till the very end. 

There was a lot of pressure on police to solve this case. But so many mistakes were made on the night of the shooting and crucial evidence and witness statements were lost for good.  

Firstly, the crime scene ended up being where the BMW stopped, not where the shooting had occurred. Bullet casings were either run over by cars or had rolled down the street into the gutter.

The passenger in the front seat of the car behind Tupac and Suge was in the best position to identify the gunman. 19-year-old Yafeu ‘Kadafi’ Fula grew up with Tupac and the two were like brothers. He was one of the members of Tupac’s back-up band Immortal Outlawz. Yafeu confirmed that he could see the gunman from where he was sitting. Police never asked him who it was, just said that he should go down to the police station to make a statement, which he never did and they never followed up on. 

Yafeu left Vegas after Tupac’s death and before he could meet with police to make his statement, he was shot in the back of the head in a housing project in New Jersey, on November 10th.

Suge Knight went in to  Las Vegas Police Department to a give statement three days after the shooting. He brought his lawyers with him and provided no information that could spark a lead. He stated that it all happened very quickly and that he didn’t see the gunman.

Security at the MGM Grand could provide police with the CCTV footage of the fight in the lobby on the night of the 7th of September. Police thought this could have been the motive for the shooting. They wanted to know who the man was who was beaten up by Tupac and his gang. Security only had Orlando’s first name. 

With help from Compton Police, Las Vegas Police managed to identify him as Orlando Anderson from the Compton Southside Crips. At the time, Orlando was under investigation for the gunshot murder of another man.

Las Vegas detectives went to Compton to learn more about this violent man who had been on the losing end of a fight with Tupac, on the night that Tupac was murdered. Compton provided them with a brief history of the rivalry between the Crips and the Bloods and felt that it was more than plausible that Orlando and the Crips killed Tupac as revenge for humiliating and disrespecting one of their members. Yet, Las Vegas Police did not feel the evidence was concrete enough to make an arrest. 

Compton homicide investigator Bobby Ladd, who was very familiar with the gangs in his precinct said:

"We told Vegas right then we thought the Southside Crips were responsible for the murder and that Orlando was the shooter."

Las Vegas police could not be convinced after reviewing the footage of the fight. To them it appeared that Orlando was a stranger to Tupac and that the fight was not the motive for Tupac’s murder. 

On May 29th 1998, Orlando Anderson was shot down in a LA gunfight. At a Compton Carwash Orlando wanted to settle a dispute with another gang member and ended up dead. Police said that his death was unrelated to the Tupac Shakur case. 

As time went on, concrete leads in Tupac’s case ran dry. But conspiracies were flying around the music industry. People were talking about the ongoing gang war between LA’s Crips and Bloods gangs and their respective affiliations with East and West Coast Rappers.

Las Vegas authorities were concerned that pursuing this case will end up in a well published trial and droves of hip hop artists and gangs would be flooding into their city. It would be detrimental for publicity, people wouldn’t feel safe to travel to Las Vegas. This was an attitude that frustrated many dedicated police officers.

One theory that was circling through the rumour mill was that Tupac’s producer, Suge Knight, was behind the attack. People close to Tupac knew that he was planning on leaving Death Row Records. Although his albums with Death Row were hugely successful he was ready to leave. Tupac felt Death Row wasn’t paying him what he was worth.

He was going to start his own label and was done with Suge Knight.

People who believed this theory felt that Suge at set up the fight in the lobby to make it look like the night was laden with intergang conflict. They found it odd that Orlando got up after his beating and didn’t want to press charges. 

But Suge was in the car when Tupac was shot, surely if he had set it up, it would have been too risky. The car was riddled with bullets, there was no way of ensuring Suge would not  have been killed himself. Also, in the gang world, people don’t trust police. So it would be unusual for someone like Orlando to press charges after a fight – to them fighting is a part of life.

Suge Knight was arrested though. But not in relation to Tupac’s murder. He was arrested for violating the conditions of his parole by beating up Orlando. He denies being involved in the shooting of his label’s biggest star.

Six years after Tupac’s murder, a new theory emerged. In 2002, the Los Angeles Times published a story that pointed finger to the East Coast rapper, Tupac’s once-friend, the Notorious B.I.G. The yearlong investigation, done by Chuck Phillips, reconstructed the crime and re-visited events leading up to it.

It says:

"The shooting was carried out by a Compton gang called the Southside Crips to avenge the beating of one of its members by Shakur a few hours earlier. Orlando Anderson, the Crip whom Shakur had attacked, fired the fatal shots.” 

The article claims that Orlando gathered himself after the beating and word about the incident spread like wild fire. Crips gang members in Las Vegas at the time joined up with Orlando and urged him to retaliate. A beating like that was against the code of ethics of respect, and deserved the ultimate payback. 

The LA Times article also reveals that Biggie Smalls was staying at the MGM Grand under an assumed name on the night of September 7th 1996. Biggie’s presence in Las Vegas and the uproar caused by Tupac’s fight with Orlando, caused the perfect storm.

The Crips guys remembered that Biggie was prepared to pay for a hit on Tupac. They went to him and said that they would get rid of Tupac if Biggie were to pay them $1 Million. According to Phillips’ article, Biggie agreed, but he had one condition: he handed over a .40-calibre Glock pistol and said that nothing would make him happier than knowing that the bullet that killed Tupac came from his gun. 

Taking the gun, Orlando and the other Crips assembled at the Treasure Island Hotel. They hatched a plan to shoot Tupac after his midnight performance at Club 662, when he left the building. 

At 11 pm, group of Crips members left the Valet parking at the Treasure Island Hotel in a white Cadillac to go head to Club 662. By a stroke of luck, they came upon Tupac’s convoy just off Flamingo Drive and fired 13 shots. They drove away, jumped onto the I5 highway and headed straight back to Compton, California.

Witnesses saw two Crips in Compton, driving a white Cadillac with a rental sticker, two days after the attack on Tupac. An informant told the Compton gang unit that the car was taken to a man who did auto body work to repair damage caused by bullets. On the night of the shooting, one of Tupac’s bodyguards managed to fire a couple of shots at the Cadillac as it sped off. 

Compton police found a rental agency in Carson that had rented a white Cadillac over the time of the shooting. Officers thought that it was very likely the vehicle used on the night of the crime. They claim to have sent all the information to Las Vegas police. Las Vegas police claimed they never received the report. 

In the case of gang killings, finding witnesses is a hard task. People usually distrust law enforcement. The consequences of ratting somebody out could be far worse than simply frustrating police officers sniffing around for tips. Also, many of the witnesses had criminal records and did not want to implicate themselves unnecessarily. 

As was the case with Suge Knight. During an interview with ABC-TV’s “PrimeTime Live” he alluded to the fact that even if he knew who killed Tupac, there was no way he was telling authorities. He said:

"It's not my job," he said. "I don't get paid to solve homicides. I don't get paid to tell on people."

Phillips’ article caused a lot of controversy. Biggie Small’s family was outraged that he was implicated in Tupac’s murder. The family felt that it was irresponsible reporting from the LA times and wanted to take legal action. In support of their claims, Biggie's family produced invoices showing that he was working in a New York recording studio the night of the drive-by shooting.

Biggie’s friends also claim he had no gang affiliations. Tupac’s mom, Afeni Shakur, also didn’t believe that Biggie was involved. 

When the LA Times story broke, implicating Biggie in Tupac’s murder, Biggie’s mom reached out to Tupac’s mom. She wanted them to appeal together for a Federal investigation into the murders of their sons. Tupac’s legal team said they didn’t trust any governmental agency in connection with solving this crime.

In March 1997, Biggie talked about the rumour of him ordering a hit on Tupac. He responded by saying:

“I’m not that powerful yet.”

Within a week of this interview, Biggie would be dead too. He would be gunned down in an eerily similar way to Tupac.

Biggie was in Los Angeles for the 11th Soul Train Music Awards on March 8th 1997. He was attending the afterparty  at the Petersen Automotive Museum with Sean P Diddy Combes and his entourage. When things got out of hand, fire marshals shut the party down and everyone evacuated the club just after midnight.

They were driving in convoy, with Sean P Diddy and his bodyguards in the front car, Biggie and his bodyguards in the middle. There was a third car in their convoy, which was cut off and could not join them at the traffic light on Wilshire Boulevard. A black Chevy Impala drove to the passenger side of Biggie’s GMC Suburban, pulled out a pistol and opened fire. Biggie was hit by four bullets and was pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in the early morning hours of March 9th.   

As with Tupac’s murder, no one has ever been charged in the killing of Biggie Smalls, The Notorious B.I.G..

After Tupac and Biggie’s deaths, their mothers appeared together at the 1999 Music Awards. They graced the stage with Will Smith. They were representing their sons and encouraging peace. They pleaded with the rapping community to let their sons’ memories inspire and unite them. It was time to lay the weapons down. 

In the years following their killings, associates of both Tupac and Biggie made comments indicating the two stars, were it not for their deaths, would have reconciled.

Tupac sold more records after his death than when he was alive. H broke the Guiness World Record for greatest selling rap artist of all time, with a total of 75 Million albums sold worldwide.

Journalist Chuck Phillips commented on Tupac’s death:

"The slaying [of Tupac Shakur] silenced one of modern music's most eloquent voices—a ghetto poet whose tales of urban alienation captivated young people of all races and backgrounds. The 25-year-old Shakur had helped elevate rap from a crude street fad to a complex art form, setting the stage for the current global hip-hop phenomenon.”

Tupac was an artist and Afeni Shakur felt something had to be done to preserve his legacy. She founded the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation (or TASF) in 1997. 

The TASF's stated mission is to:

"Provide training and support for students who aspire to enhance their creative talents." 

The foundation hosts day camps for teenagers, offering lessons in creative and performing arts: acting, dancing and writing. The foundation continued to grow and the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts opened in Stone Mountain, Georgie in June 2005. They also have a cultural exchange program with Japan and South Africa.

In 2007, Afeni Shajur was in court again. Always the fighter, she had one more battle to compete. She filed an injunction against Death Row Records, preventing them from selling any of Tupac’s unreleased songs. She founded a record label called Amaru Records to released Tupac’s songs. A total of 150 songs were handed over to Afeni. 

In April 2012, a hologram of Tupac performed his songs “Hail Mary and “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted” with Snoop Dogg at the Coachella Music Festival. It was like have him back again, even just for a fleeting moment.

Afeni Shakur passed away from a heart attack in May 2016. She was taken to hospital from her home in Sausalito, California where she was pronounced dead. 

On April 7, 2017, on the first year that he was eligible, Shakur was inducted into the Music Hall of Fame. His friend, Snoop Dogg accepted the award on his behalf and said:

“Tupac knew he was only human, and he represented through his music like no one else. It was a fact he didn’t shy away from, he wore it like a badge of honour. With an unapologetic rawness, Pac embraced those contradictions that prove we ain’t just a character out of somebody’s storybook. To be human is to be many things at once: stong and vulnerable, strong-headed and intellectual, courageous and afraid, loving and vengeful, revolutionary and oh yeah don’t get it fucked up: GANSTA.” 

To this day, nobody has been arrested in the murder of Tupac Shakur. But his legend will live forever as the man who made street-rap an art-form. 

If you’d like to read more about this case, have a look at the resources used for this episode in the show notes. You would enjoy “Unsolved: Tupac & Biggie” and the documentary about Biggie Smalls called ‘Notorious’ – both on Netflix. 

Afeni Shakur produced ‘Tupac: Resurrection’ – a bio-documentary of Tupac telling his life story in his own words.  

This was The Evidence Locker. Thank you for listening!

Narrated by: Noel Vinson

Researched & Produced by Two Red Romans Productions

Music: “Nordic Medieval” by Marcus Bressler

©2018 Evidence Locker Podcast

All rights reserved. This podcast or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a podcast review.