Who Killed Tupac Shakur?
They walk the streets of cities, minding their own business until another gang of felons come across their path. This is war, a type of warfare that is not known to us little town people who have never lived in a big city. This is gang warfare. This warfare doesn’t make much sense to the most of us. Only to those who are a part of this atrocious way to live life. Although they may seem awful, some make it to the top. Like Tupac Shakur, they change their life. Only with a past and a beat, they spill their hearts into a riot of lyrical talent. They are poets at heart but don’t know it. This is a rapper. Tupac on the other hand, instead of losing his gang torn past, was trapped with a past that was not so bad, yet still difficult. He was good as a child but eventually gets involved with gangs and drugs. He eventually went to art school, but that is a different story. This is about two notorious gangs. The Bloods, the Crips, and who killed Tupac Shakur.
The case to this day is still unsolved but there is support that gangs had a big role in his tragic death.
It all started when Tupac happened to be in New York for a sentencing for a sexual assault charge that was held against him. He visited a recording studio to attempt to record with one of his friends. Within the lobby when he was about to get into the elevator, he was robbed. After being shot and hospitalized, he checked out the next day to make his sentencing where he was then sentenced to four and a half years in prison. There he had time to think about the robbery and decided that his once acquaintance, Notorious B.I.G., was the one who ordered the attack. Once out of prison, Tupac went public about B.I.G. Tupac then signed a 3 album record deal with Suge knight of Death Row Records. These circumstances started the war.
Suge Knight was rumored to have affiliation with the Bloods. B.I.G. was a part of Death Row’s rival record label, Bad Boy Entertainment. Puffy (P. Diddy) Coombs was also rumored to have a connection with the rival gang, the Crips. They would then do random robberies. Rappers Tupac and B.I.G. would slam each other down within their lyrics. The scenario kept getting worse and worse.
The night in July, 1996, set the grudge to whole new heights. Bloods who were close to the persons that belonged to Death Row were jumped by seven-or-eight crips at a footlocker. There they stole medallions that were generally worn by the Death Row mob. Knight then tried many attempts to get back at the culprits with intensive interrogations and bribes. He never succeeded with these attempts as revenge.(Bruno)
Months later, Lane (one of the Death Row Crew who was robbed of his medallion) spotted a crip in the lobby of the MGM hotel in Las Vegas. Tupac, Knight, and the Blood mob they had with them proceeded to beat up the crip in the lobby. The owners of the hotel proved this fact with a videotape they saved from the incident.(Bruno, Philips) From then on the detectives weren’t certain what happened next. No one was willing to come forward. Detectives suspect that the lone crip made his way upstairs back to his room (where he was registered under a false name) to call more crips for backup. It was reported that a pack of crips showed up at the MGM to meet up with Notorious B.I.G. where they were ordered to go after the Death Row Caravan. All though this is plausible, B.I.G. had an alibi. Witnesses report that B.I.G. was in fact recording in New York City. He was nowhere near Las Vegas.(Bruno) With that the story went back to the crips meeting up at the MGM to pick up their lone Crip and go after Tupac and the rest of Death Row. There is no telling how the Crips made it up to the Caravan so fast, but when Knight was at a stop light just off the Las Vegas Strip, a white Cadillac pulled up next to the vehicle with Tupac and Knight inside. Tupac, distracted with the car on the other side, didn’t notice the car pull up. The driver of the white Cadillac pulled a 40 caliber glock pistol and began shooting rounds into the car. Tupac, trying to go for cover, desperately made his way into the back seat. There he was shot four times in the chest. Knight, who was also almost shot, then pulled a u-turn and made his way back to the Las Vegas strip. There it was reported that Knight ran the car into the curb.(Bruno, Philips)
When Las Vegas Police arrived, they treated him as a suspect rather than a victim. They called for an ambulance for Tupac, and where he was rushed to the University Medical Center. They performed and emergency surgery where they had to remove one of his lungs. Tupac died six days later after they took him off of life support. Tupac’s Mother, Afeni, said, “It was important for his spirit to be allowed to be free.” as she explained the situation to reporters.(Bruno)
Tupac’s legacy still remains to this day. After his death Tupac’s recordings still sold thousands of copies. Another report came that Knight was the one who planned Tupac’s death. Since rappers still do well even after their death, Knight would make more money than before. Police discredited that theory since Knight was in the vehicle with Tupac. They don’t think that Knight would put his own life in danger. On March 17th, according to the Los Angeles Times, they theorize that P. Diddy was the one who ordered the attack. Diddy came back and made statements that the accusations were completely false and made up. The LA Times then admitted that the story was no longer credible. They stated that the FBI reports were fabricated.(Rainey) To this day the killer of Tupac is still unknown. There was one other case related to Tupac’s, the death of Notorious B.I.G. B.I.G’s case is also unsolved due to lack of cooperation from the City of Los Angeles. Detective Russell Poole who was assigned to the case found a suspect that was connected to both cases, but in the end Poole resigned from the LAPD out of frustration.(Bruno)
In the end I strongly believe that gangs were the cause of his death. Tupac was a rising star with many talents that got wasted with some stupid thing such as a gang war. People these days are getting brain washed into thinking that this is the way to live, but it’s ridiculous. Tupac was in the rap industry not only with a past to inspire his songs, but also he had an education. His life wasn’t always into drugs and gangs. People are getting away with these crimes because no one is willing to come forward to tell what they saw, not to mention the fact that some people have close ties with police agencies. Because of this blockade in the road of justice, none of these cases are going to ever be solved. It is hoped that someday someone will come forward and admit to killing Tupac Shakur.