Police search home over 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur


The man facing a murder charge in the fatal shooting of Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas 27 years ago has made his first court appearance. Photo: AAP
Nevada police have searched a house outside of Las Vegas in connection with the 1996 killing of hip-hop star Tupac Shakur, who was shot to death in the city nearly three decades ago.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has confirmed the search, but offered no more information about who owned the house or what led them to the property.
In a statement on Wednesday (AEST), the department said it “can confirm a search warrant was served in Henderson, Nevada on July 17, 2023, as part of the ongoing Tupac Shakur homicide investigation.”
The department, whose jurisdiction includes the suburb of Henderson, declined to provide further comment.
Shakur was shot in a drive-by shooting on September 7, 1996. He died in hospital six days later at the age of 25.
Better known by his stage name 2Pac, or his alias Makeveli, Tupac was considered one of the most influential artists of his time.
The shooting happened on the night he visited Las Vegas to celebrate the birthday of his business partner Tracy Danielle Robinson.
Earlier that night, he had watched the Bruce Seldon v Mike Tyson boxing match with rap industry businessman Suge Knight at the MGM Grand hotel and casino.
Afterward in the lobby, one of the men in Tupac’s group spotted Orlando ‘Baby Lane’ Anderson, an apparent member of rival gang the Southside Compton Crips.
Tensions boiled over after the man in Tupac’s entourage accused Baby Lane of trying to snatch his Death Row Records medallion neck chain in a shopping mall some time earlier.
CCTV footage from the night showed Tupac’s group fighting Baby Lane.
Tupac later stopped by his hotel room before heading with Knight to his Death Row nightclub, Club 662, in a black BMW 750iL sedan, as part of a larger convoy.
Close to midnight, his car halted at a stop light. A white Cadillac sedan pulled up to the passenger side – and a mystery occupant rapidly fired bullets into the car.
Tupac was hit four times – once in an arm, once in a thigh, and twice in his chest. One bullet entered his right lung.
He was taken to hospital where he was heavily sedated, put on life support and then put under an induced coma.
But it wasn’t enough to save him. He died from his wounds six days later.
To this day, no one has been convicted of Tupac’s murder, thanks to a mix of botched police investigations and inconclusive evidence.
In 2002, investigative journalist Chuck Philips reported in the Los Angeles Times that Baby Lane had fired the fatal gunshots. Philips said Las Vegas police interviewed Baby Lane only briefly and only once, before he died in an unrelated shooting.
Rapper Christopher ‘Biggie Smalls’ Wallace, also known as The Notorious B.I.G., was another suspect, as were others within New York City’s criminal underworld.
Tupac was posthumously honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in June, having sold more than 75 million records worldwide.
-with AAP