The Mammoth Book of Celebrity Murders (27 page)

With the usual pre-fight build-up Tyson finally approached the ring, flanked on all sides by the numerous helpers he employed. The fight though was short lived as Tyson despatched a flurry of
blows which ended the fight in just 109 seconds. As Tyson left the ring Shakur was the first to congratulate him with a hug and they had a brief chat agreeing to meet later at Club 662.

At roughly 8.30 p.m., Shakur and his group began to file out of the MGM Grand and were heading through the hotel’s Grand Garden when they ended up in an argument with an individual.
Whatever was said between them is not known, but hotel security cameras caught a group of about eight men rounding on the lone man and giving him a severe kicking. The man was left on the ground as
the group calmly strolled away. The security footage does not show clearly who were involved in the scuffle but later an MGM employee claims to have seen Shakur and Knight in a brawl with the lone
black man. Following the incident Shakur’s party walked away, preparing to visit a nearby house where they intended to change their clothing before leaving for Club 662.

Later that evening Shakur and his group set off in an impressive convoy consisting of five executive-class cars. Shakur and record boss Marion Knight were alone in Knight’s BMW 750 at the
head of the convoy, with the other four cars, one of which contained two professionally employed body guards, following on behind. It was just after 11 p.m. when the convoy turned eastbound on
Flamingo Road; Knight was driving and Shakur was playing the music; he was in a good mood and was looking forward to getting to the club.

As the convoy slowed to a halt at the intersection of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane a white Cadillac pulled alongside. The car contained four black men, one of whom opened fire with a
semi-automatic weapon. Knight’s BMW was sprayed with thirteen bullets which ripped through the passenger door. Shakur was hit four times in the chest and abdomen, while Knight, who was
farthest from the gunman, was struck in the head by a bullet which was thought to have ricocheted off Shakur.

The drive-by shooting was over in seconds; the Cadillac sped away, turned onto the Strip and away into the night. Knight, who had not yet realized that he was injured, spun the car around and
headed in the opposite direction from where he had travelled; it is thought he was simply trying to head away from the direction of the Cadillac. Police officers who had been operating in the area
had heard the shots and could see that the target was the BMW sedan which was now u-turning and fleeing back up Flamingo Road. A patrol car pursued Knight and Shakur, who by now was slumped over in
the passenger seat, losing blood from the four shots he had taken. As the traffic slowed on Flamingo the pursuing patrol car finally managed to close in on the car and bring it to a stop. Having
already radioed the emergency services a paramedic team were already making their way to the injured duo, who by now were in severe need of assistance. Shakur was incoherent when the paramedics
pulled him from the vehicle and started to prepare him for a rapid trip to the University Medical Centre, where medical staff were preparing themselves for a major trauma victim.

The rest of the convoy had become ensnared in the traffic and surprisingly the car containing the bodyguards did not try and pursue the Cadillac – later all of those who travelled in the
cars behind would claim they had seen nothing of the incident, even the bodyguards whose job it was to provide the protection. The events though did have many witnesses, including two police
officers who were directly adjacent to the shooting, as they were dealing with a stolen vehicle misdemeanour. The road that evening, like most nights, was full with motorists and those on foot, as
was the Strip, the escape route taken by the gunman. Yet other than the basic facts as described by the police officers, no one else came forward to assist in the investigation that followed,
including those who were a part of it.

Shakur was rushed to the University Medical Centre where his condition was described as critical. He underwent the first of three operations, one of which removed his right lung which had been
hit three times, causing extensive damage to some of his major blood vessels. After the operations were complete a hospital spokesman said that Shakur’s chances of survival were now
50–50. The first 48 hours were critical, as the damage to the major arteries needed to be repaired and the vital signs stabilized. His initial 80–20 against prognosis looked like it had
improved significantly, although doctors now warned that the second danger phase was about to be entered. The week following the operation would tell if Shakur’s wounds had suffered any
infection during the operations, his life still hanging in the balance as he was held in suspended animation, the subject of a drug-induced coma. Breathing apparatus pumped blood around his body,
while tubes automatically fed nutrients into him and took the waste away. It would now be a matter of time.

As for Marion Knight, he was released later the same night. Shrapnel had hit him in the head, but had caused little damage; Shakur had taken most of the impact. Knight immediately disappeared,
not wishing to be interviewed by the police, who were keen to receive his eyewitness testimony.

Meanwhile the University Medical Centre had become the scene of large crowds as fans and the media crowded round the entrance looking to talk to anyone who could offer them an update. Inside the
centre, Shakur’s mother paced the floor waiting for a breakthrough having been joined by the head of the Las Vegas Nation of Islam. Reverend Jesse Jackson had called in to wish them luck,
cautioning youngsters who listened to his music not to treat the glorification of the gangster scene as anything other than a waste of life. Other stars of the rap scene called in and all passed
their own comments in relation to the events.

The media gathered from both the east and west coast, TV cameras were placed all around the entrance to the Medical Centre and reporters from all of the national newspapers were in evidence, the
Los Angeles Times
,
Washington Post
,
New York Daily News
and a large contingent from Black Entertainment Television. At one point friends of Shakur and fans turned on the press,
claiming it was their interpretation of Shakur’s work that had given him the gangster image. There can be no doubt that no good news was ever printed about Shakur; it was overwhelmingly bad,
and as far as the press were concerned Shakur had reaped what he had sown. It was clear then that they were there to highlight the outcome of gang culture, not to publicize the crime with a view to
catching the perpetrators, and the fans seemed to sense this.

If the press didn’t see the positive side of Shakur then those fans who couldn’t make it to the University Medical Centre certainly did – the switchboard was taking up to
10,000 calls per day from fans wanting an update. A spokesman for the hospital said this was the most calls they had ever received for a single person.

The press though had their own angle to pursue – what they were intent on discussing was Shakur’s criminal past rather than his impressive record collection. The fact is that both
were worthy of note – Shakur had been involved with the law on a number of occasions, all of which fitted in nicely and supported his persona as the hard man of gangster rap.

Shakur had over time had his run-ins with the authorities. In 1992 while attending a festival in Marin County he was involved in an incident which resulted in the death of a six-year-old boy
from a stray bullet. The year after he was charged with the shooting of two off-duty Atlanta police officers, charges which were subsequently dropped. In the same year he pleaded guilty to
misdemeanour assault charges after attacking a fellow rapper with a baseball bat.

Shakur was arrested in November 1993 and charged with sexual assault after a fan claimed she was attacked in a Manhattan hotel room and sodomized by Shakur and a number of his friends. The
investigation into these events were carried out over a number of months before finally coming to court in 1995.

In April 1994 Shakur and his brother Maurice Harding were stopped on Hollywood Boulevard and found to be in possession of two 9mm pistols. The pair were arrested and later charged. Just one
month later in May 1994 Shakur commenced a 15-day jail term for attacking the video director Alan Hughes, while they were preparing to make a music video. As a result of his previous misdemeanour
assault charge Shakur also had to carry out civic duties by reporting to a Caltrans work crew, an obligation he failed to comply with and one which would later have him back in court for failing to
follow his parole rules. In October 1994 Shakur incurred another misdemeanour assault charge, this time from the authorities in Michigan.

In early 1995 Shakur was imprisoned having been found guilty of the sexual assault charge and was jailed for up to four and a half years; he was sent to a prison in upstate New York.

There were many other minor offences which never reached court – in the week prior to his shooting he and a number of his group were involved in a fracas with other attendees at the MTV
awards, a scuffle ensued but no real damage was done. The events were reported, but once again it seemed that Shakur was simply living up to the image he had created. For those who revered him his
actions were part of who he was; for those who loathed him, he couldn’t be any lower than he already was in their opinions.

It was this image that the media had presented over the years and it was still this image they were presenting as Shakur lay in his hospital bed, unaware of anything that was going on about
him.

What had been a critical injury unfortunately turned to murder just six days later when Shakur died at 4.03 p.m. on 13 September 1995, which by chance was a Friday, unlucky for some. Later that
evening the coroner performed an autopsy on Shakur before releasing his body to the Davis mortuary, which had been instructed by Afeni Shakur to cremate him. A day later his remains were passed to
Afeni, who left Las Vegas heading back to California.

The fans who gathered around the Medical Centre were in shock – only days before the word had been that Shakur’s position had improved slightly; they were therefore expecting him to
pull through. The official cause of death was described as respiratory failure and cardiopulmonary arrest; the damage caused by the bullets had been too great.

Mourners at the hospital, including Knight, lingered together even after Shakur’s body had been removed to the mortuary. From those who had been at Shakur’s bedside during the six
days since he had been shot, including the members of his back-up band Outlaw Immortalz, whispers began to emerge that those in Shakur’s closest circle knew who had carried out the
attack.

The police, however, just like the press, were not being fed information. Those who had been in Shakur’s company that night couldn’t remember what had happened or claimed not to have
seen the events – it was as if all those in the cars following, including the drivers, were looking in the opposite direction. It appeared that the underworld code of not cooperating with the
police was being enforced. The media fared even worse – when any of them was spotted by fans an alarm would be raised and the individual warned off. Although the bad press was finally coming
home to roost, it didn’t change their reporting style – Shakur’s death was simply the conclusion to a life bordering on perpetual criminality. His contribution to the world of
music was either overlooked or overshadowed by his violent death.

From the moment Shakur was hospitalized the police hoped that he would be able to shed light upon or even identify those who had shot him, but with his death this particular opportunity was lost
and no one else seemed to be coming forward. Knight, who had gone to ground in the days following the shooting, eventually came forward to the police flanked by three lawyers. As someone who had
suffered some small injury during the shooting Knight was not considered a suspect, however it was hoped that he might be able to identify the perpetrators or suggest a reason for the attack; but
like all the others who had been there he maintained a grim silence.

Through the press it was common knowledge that a strong element of gang loyalty existed between the various known gangs. Knight for instance was thought to be affiliated to the Los Angeles based
Bloods, as he wore an expensive ring with the letters M.O.B across the centre, standing for Member of the Bloods. The police believed that the shooting might have been linked to some gang feud,
although they were quite certain that the intended target was Shakur – his side of the vehicle had been peppered with bullets and no obvious attempt had been made to hit Knight.

As the police tried to reconstruct the events, they began by looking at the group’s activities before the fateful car journey. Investigations at the MGM Grand uncovered the security tape
which showed the violent altercation between Shakur’s group and another black man. Investigations found that the man who had taken the beating was Orlando Anderson, a notorious member of
another Los Angeles gang called the Crips. Los Angeles police were able to confirm that the gangs were indeed warring and had investigated a number of incidents between them.

As the world of hip-hop and leading members of the black community gathered to mourn the passing of Tupac Shakur, the police and the press prepared for the expected retaliation, the tit-for-tat
murder that would be needed to settle the score. And they were not to be disappointed, for around 12 shootings occurred in the Compton district of Los Angeles in the days following the attack on
Shakur. Compton seemed to be the epicentre of the gang culture in LA and it was here that police thought their killer might lurk.

It appeared then that 22-year-old Orlando Anderson might have had a double motive for the attack on Shakur – he had suffered at his hands just after the Tyson fight when he was knocked to
the floor, and he had allegiance to the Crips gang. Two Metro homicide detectives from Las Vegas arrived in Compton where they joined members of the LA Police Department in a special round-up
operation of gang members. Officers who were dressed in military style uniforms and sporting black masks set off flash-bang diversionary devices as they stormed houses in the Compton, Long Beach,
Lakewood and Paramount areas of the city. Kicking in doors they dragged individuals from their beds in the early morning raid. Anderson, who had previously been detained over a murder in 1994, was
one of those arrested in the raids and was immediately taken in for specific questioning, although police were at pains to point out that he was detained for questioning over a murder in Compton,
although he would also be questioned about the events in Las Vegas. During the early morning raid the police were able to round up 21 gang members from both factions, who were suspected of
involvement in the dozen shootings which had occurred in Compton since Shakur’s murder, three of which had been fatal.