Tupac Shot Five Times

1996

Rap star Tupac Shakur is shot five times in a drive-by following a boxing match in Las Vegas. He dies six days later at age 25.

Shakur's shooting is preceded by a beatdown: After watching Mike Tyson batter Bruce Seldon at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the confrontational rapper spots a rival, Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, and punches him in the face. Suge Knight and the rest of Tupac's entourage join in, brutally stomping the downed Crip. (The assault is caught on the hotel's video surveillance, which later lands Knight in jail.) Later that night, Tupac is riding shotgun in Knight's car when after stopping at a red light, a white four-door late-model Cadillac pulls up on their right side. They roll down a window and rapidly fire gunshots at Tupac. The rap star is hit four times: in the chest, arm and thigh, with one of the bullets going into his right lung and left testicle. Knight is hit in the head by a fragmentation. Despite their car having a flat tire, Knight drives them a mile away where a Bike Patrol stops them and alerts the paramedics. They get to the hospital; Tupac predicts his fate, saying, "I'm dying" while being carried to the emergency room. Pac's rap group Outlawz guard him as he fights for his life for nearly a week, but he finally dies from internal bleeding on September 13th. Police state that Suge Knight and the rest of the Death Row entourage that had been driving behind them refused to cooperate, giving them no real leads on the assailants. 2Pac himself refused to answer any questions about his shooter, his final words being "F--k You" to the officer questioning him. Tupac Shakur's murder is never solved. With no witnesses willing to speak, the case goes cold early. There are many theories surrounding Tupac's death, whether it be a final attack from East Coast rivals Bad Boy Records, a setup by Suge Knight before 2Pac could leave Death Row Records, or that Pac is actually still alive. Whatever the cause, the result is the same. The world lost a true artist in his prime and will never know just how much more he had to offer. Tupac left his mark during his 25 years on earth, and well beyond, with a collection of work that includes the albums 2Pacalypse Now, Me Against the World, and All Eyez on Me. The posthumous release of his final album, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, moves 664,000 copies its first week; the influences behind his lyrics are studied in courses at Harvard and Berkeley; a Tupac-inspired musical shows up on Broadway. His legacy shows that Shakur was far more than a rapper - he was an idol and an inspiration.