What happened to Tupac Shakur? Complete details about 1996 murder explored as Suge Knight makes shocking claims

Suge Knight, former CEO of Death Row Records, has revealed shocking claims about the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur, who was reportedly shot in Las Vegas.

Knight, who is currently serving a 28-year sentence in a 2015 hit-and-run case for voluntary manslaughter, told People magazine that his mother, Afeni Shakur, played a direct role in her son’s death.

According to him, when the rapper was fading in and out of consciousness after being shot, he allegedly asked his mother to let him die rather than face a likely return to prison. He claimed that while he refused, Shakur’s mother allegedly gave him pills to end his life, the report stated.

Another report by People magazine stated that Shakur was shot multiple times in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996. He was shot four times while riding in the passenger seat of a black BMW which was being driven by Knight. Six days later, on September 13, 1997, he succumbed to his injuries.

All we know about the 1996 murder that took the life of Tupac Shakur

In September 1996, Tupac Shakur became the target of a gruesome murder which shook the entire music industry, including his fans.

According to a 2023 report in Sky News, on the night of the incident, Shakur was returning from a Mike Tyson boxing match at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. He was in a black BMW, which was driven by Marion “Suge” Knight.

The shooting occurred when they stopped at a red light and a white Cadillac pulled up next to them and opened fire at the rapper. The gunman reportedly fired a dozen rounds at Tupac Shakur, hitting him with four bullets, out of which two hit his chest and the other two hit his arm and thigh. Knight was also grazed in his head by the bullet but received minor injuries.

Shakur was then rushed to the University Medical Center in Las Vegas, reported People magazine. He reportedly underwent multiple surgeries, which also involved the removal of his right lung. However, he died six days later at the age of 25.

The murder reportedly stemmed from the fight which took place on the night of his murder. He and his entourage had been involved in a physical altercation with Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, a member of the Southside Compton Crips in the MGM lobby. Their fight broke out after the latter attempted to steal a Death Row Records medallion from a member of Shakur’s entourage.

Reportedly, a Crips leader later admitted that Tupac Shakur’s death was revenge for Anderson’s beating. A source told People magazine:

“It was simple retaliation: you mess with one of ours, we will mess with one of yours. If Orlando had never been jumped in the hotel, they never would have killed Tupac that night.”

60-year-old Duane “Keffe D” Davis was charged with the murder of Tupac Shakur. He was reportedly one of the four original suspects of the shooting along with his nephew Orlando Anderson.

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