Las Vegas

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Lore & Background

On September 7, 1996, Tupac and Suge Knight attended the heavyweight boxing match at the MGM Grand. Afterward, in the lobby, they encountered Orlando Anderson of the South Side Compton Crips. Following an earlier incident where Anderson's group attempted to steal a Death Row medallion, Shakur confronted him, asking if he was from the "South" before punching him and joining Knight's entourage in assaulting him. This fight, captured on surveillance, led Shakur to Club 662 for a charity concert. Minutes later, at 11:15 p.m., while stopped at a red light at East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane, a white Cadillac pulled up. A shooter fired four rounds from a .40-caliber Glock 22, hitting Shakur twice in the chest, once in the arm, and once in the thigh. Knight was grazed by fragmentation.

In Their Own Story

The night began with excitement at the MGM Grand but ended in chaos on East Flamingo Road. After being released from a brief traffic stop for loud music, Knight's BMW stopped at a red light near the Maxim Hotel. A white Cadillac pulled up alongside, and the shooter in the back seat rapidly fired four shots. Shakur was struck, one bullet piercing his right lung, while Suge Knight took fragmentation to the head. Despite his injuries and a flat tire, Knight drove Shakur a mile to Las Vegas Boulevard and Harmon Avenue, where they were stopped again by the LVMPD Bike Patrol. Paramedics rushed them to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada. Inside the emergency room, Shakur told doctors he was dying. He was placed on life support and induced into a coma, regaining consciousness briefly when his girlfriend Kidada Jones played "Vincent" on a CD player.

Reader's Guide

For visitors interested in this history, the specific location of the shooting is the intersection of East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane. The event occurred just minutes after leaving Club 662, owned by Suge Knight. Shakur died at the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada on September 13, 1996, six days after being shot. His death resulted from respiratory failure leading to cardiac arrest after surgeons removed his right lung; doctors could not stop the hemorrhaging. While Orlando Anderson was suspected and arrested on October 2, 1996, he was released without charges and died in a separate gang shootout in 1998. Decades later, Duane "Keefe D" Davis was indicted for first-degree murder on September 29, 2023, with his trial scheduled to begin August 10, 2026.

Did You Know?

• Shakur was hit by four rounds from a .40-caliber Glock 22: two in the chest, one in the arm, and one in the thigh.
• Suge Knight was grazed by bullet fragmentation but managed to drive Shakur to the hospital despite having a flat tire.
• Shakur's last words were "fuck you" when an officer asked if he saw who shot him.
• Duane "Keefe D" Davis was indicted 27 years after the murder, on September 29, 2023.
• Tupac died at exactly 4:03 p.m. on September 13, 1996, following respiratory failure and cardiac arrest.