Tupac Shakur, a popular rapper, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996. He was just 25.

Almost 26 years later, the shooter or preparators behind the shooting remain unidentified. There have been numerous speculations and conspiracy theories turning Tupac Shakur’s death into one of the biggest mysteries in the world of modern music.

Who was Tupac Shakur

Tupac Shakur was born as Lesane Crooks on June 16, 1971, in New York City.  His parents, Afeni Shakur and Billy Garland were Black Panther Party members. Inspired by Peruvian rebel Tpac Amaru II, his mother renamed him Lesane Tupac Amaru when he was about a year old.

Shakur was popularly known as 2Pac and Makaveli.

Tupac Shakur was an iconic rapper

Tupac Amaru Shakur was an iconic American rapper and actor. He is considered one of the most successful rappers in history.  

In 1996, Tupac released All Eyez on Me, his fourth multi-platinum-selling album. The double CD featured Billboard Hot 100 #1 hits “How Do U Want It” and “California Love“. He became a pop celebrity after the double CD sold more than 5 million copies.

He was also considered an anti-inequality activist and most of his songs have been credited with addressing current social issues that plagued the communities.

During the course of his career, Shakur received six Grammy nominations and three MTV Video Music Award nominations. Shakur was also named Favorite Hip Hop Artist at the American Music Awards in 1997.

Shakur was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame posthumously in 2017.

Tupac Shakur gains prominence

Tupac Shakur gained prominence when and joined the rap group Digital Underground in 1990.

Tupac made his solo rapping debut in “Same Song” from Digital Underground’s album ‘Sons Of The P”.

Tupac’s double-length posthumous album, Greatest Hits was certified “Diamond” by the R.I.A.A., twelve years after its debut in 1998. This was one of only nine hip-hop albums to be certified ‘Diamond’ in the United States.

In 1992, Shakur made his Hollywood acting debut with Ernest Dickerson directed “Juice”.

Shakur’s tryst with law

In 1993, the rapper was sentenced to prison for assaulting a woman in a hotel room. However, he served only 9 months of his sentence and was bailed out by Suge Knight for $1.4 million in exchange for a three-record deal with his record label, Death Row Records.

Tupac Shakur is assassinated at the young age of 25

Tupac Shakur was shot in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas On September 7, 1996. He died six days later in the hospital due to an infection from his wounds. He was just 25 then.

His untimely and tragic death cast a shadow of gloom over his fans around the world.

The Events leading up to Tupac Shakur’s assassination

July 1996

A group of Crips snatched a chain with a Death Row pendant from Travon “Tray” Lane in Lakewood Mall near Compton, California. Travon Lane was a Death Row affiliate and alleged Blood gang member.

September 7, 1996

8:00 PM – MGM Grand Hotel, Las Vegas 

Two months after the chain-snatching incident, Shakur arrives at MGM Grand Hotels in Las Vegas to watch Mike Tyson’s bout with Bruce Seldon in a championship boxing contest. He is accompanied by Travon and Marion Suge Knight, the head of Death Row Records.

8:30 PM – 9:00 PM 

Mike Tyson knocks out Bruce Seldon in the first round just within 109 seconds of the match.

After the match, Shakur, Travon, and Knight accompanied by the bodyguards make their way to the exit.

On their way to exit, Travon notices Orlando Anderson, a member of the rival Southside Crips, wandering near the elevators in the lobby of MGM Grand. Anderson was one of the Crips who had snatched Tray’s chain in the Lakewood Mall.

Shakur charges toward Anderson and asks angrily, “You from the South?”. Before Anderson could answer, he punches him. Knight and Shakur’s bodyguards join in too, ensuing a brawl. They kick and thrash Anderson pinning him to the floor. The brawl is broken up by the hotel security staff.

Orlando Anderson vows to avenge his humiliation

Anderson is bruised and shaken after the attack. Security staff from MGM and Las Vegas Police requested him to file a report against his attackers, but he refused and vowed to avenge his humiliation.

Sue Knight drives off with Shakur and his bodyguards from MGM Grand to drop them at the Luxor Hotel, where Death Row had rooms booked for their team. The group plans to regroup after a few hours at Club 662 for Mike Tyson’s afterparty and a concert that also featured Shakur’s performance along with other Death Row artists.

September 7, 1996

11:00 PM

After freshening up and changing his clothes, Shakur leaves Luxor Hotel and hitches a ride with Knight in his black 1996 BMW 750 sedan. They head towards club 662 with Knight at the wheel and Shakur in the passenger seat.

Knight is pulled up by Metro patrol cops on Las Vegas Boulevard for playing his car audio too loudly and for not having license plates on his rental car. He is released after a few minutes without any citation as the license plates are found in the car trunk.

11:10 PM

Their car stops at a red light at the intersection of East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane, opposite Maxim Hotel.  A white Cadillac occupied by two women pulls up on their left side. Tupac talks to the women through the car window and invites them to Club 662 to see his performance. 

11:15 PM

Out of a sudden, a shooter who is sitting in the back seat of the Cadillac rolls down the window and fires shots from a handgun at the BMW Shakur was in.  

A total of 13 shots are fired. Shakur gets hit four times – twice in the chest, once in the thigh, and once in the arm. One of the bullets pierced Shakur’s lung, while Knight’s head was grazed by shrapnel.

Despite the flat tires and his injuries, Knight is able to drive about a mile away from the site of the incident. The car is caught in traffic on the Strip at Harmon Avenue.

The police reach the car and an ambulance is arranged for Shakur and Knight to be taken to Southern Nevada University Medical Center.  

At the hospital

Shakur is heavily sedated and the doctors remove his right lung to stop internal bleeding.

He is placed on life support and later put into a medically induced coma when he repeatedly tries to get out of his bed.

Kidada Jones visits the hospital and finds Shakur unconscious. She plays Don McLean’s “Vincent” on the CD player that was next to his bed. He immediately regains consciousness, opens his puffy eyes, and groans. An emotional and teary-eyed Jones tells Shakur that she loves him.

September 8, 1996

11 AM – Knight is released from the University Medical Center.  

6:20 PM – Shakur undergoes another surgery to repair bullet injuries.

September 11, 1996

6:00 PM

Knight, accompanied by his attorneys, gives the statement about the shooting to Metro Police. He tells the officers that he “heard something, but saw nothing“. Metro Police says Knight’s statement does not help the investigation in any way.

September 13, 1996

4:03 PM – Shakur dies from respiratory failure that led to cardiac arrest.

7 p.m. – An autopsy is performed on Shakur’s body by the coroner’s medical examiner.

9 p.m. – Shakur’s body is released to Davis Mortuary, which cremates his remains at the request of his mother Afeni Shakur.

September 14, 1996

11 a.m. – Davis Mortuary gives Shakur’s remains to his mother. She leaves Las Vegas the same day.

Who Killed Tupac Shakur?

Numerous names were linked to Shakur’s assassination but due to a lack of trustworthy witnesses and evidence, the police could neither identify the preparator nor find the motive behind the shooting.  

Here are some of the prominent names that allegedly conspired to assassinate Shakur.

The Rapper Christopher Wallace aka Notorious B.I.G.

Notorious B.I.G and Tupac were fierce opponents and had been fighting for more than a year and they were often seen hurling abuses at each other in recording studios and award shows. Notorious B.I.G. allegedly paid $1 million and supplied the handgun for killing Shakur.  

Christopher Wallace vehemently denied the allegations and produced his family electronic bills that showed he was recording a song in a New York City studio at the time of Shakur’s assassination. Also, the cops could not find any evidence to link him with Shakur’s killing.

Within six months of Shakur’s killing, Notorious B.I.G. was killed in a drive-by shooting by unknown assailants in Los Angeles. He was 24 and his assassination also remains unsolved.

The Southside Crips Gang member Orlando Anderson

Orlando Anderson, a member of Southside Crips was considered one of the suspects by Las Vegas cops. Cops believe The Southside Crips carried out the killing in retaliation for Tupac’s attack on Orlando just a few hours before the shooting.  

Orlando himself was assassinated two years later.  Cops could not find evidence to charge Orlando with the killing.

Poems by Tupac Shakur

Tupac Shakur started writing poems since the time he was nineteen. The poems showcase his spirit, his energy, and his ultimate message of hope. These poems are featured for the first time in paperback, titled, The Rose That Grew from Concrete.

The Rose That Grew from Concrete is a collection of deeply personal poetry that offers a glimpse into the legendary artist’s enigmatic world and its many contradictions. A preface was written by Afeni Shakur, Shakur’s mother, a foreword by Nikki Giovanni, and an introduction by his manager, Leila Steinberg.

Tupac Shakur’s death remains one of the most enduring unsolved cases in the history of music.

Source – 2Pac Death Timeline