Tupac Shakur, a prominent figure in the 1990s American rap scene, was killed in a drive-by shooting, and the case remains unsolved nearly three decades later.
Police in Las Vegas confirmed that they issued a search warrant this week in connection with the long-unsolved murder of legendary rapper Tupac Shakur, thrusting the case back into the spotlight nearly 30 years after his death.
Shakur, one of hip-hop’s most prolific figures, was shot and killed on the night of September 7, 1996, in a Las Vegas drive-by shooting. He was 25 years old.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said Tuesday that police searched a home outside Las Vegas in connection with the murder.
No additional information was provided about who owned the home or what prompted the police to conduct the search.
No arrests were made in Shakur’s killing, but interest in the case has persisted for decades.
In a press release, the Police Department said it “can confirm that a search warrant was issued in Henderson, Nevada on July 17, 2023, as part of the ongoing Tupac Shakur murder investigation.”
Shakur was shot while sitting inside a black BMW with Marion “Suge” Knight, the head of Death Row Records. He died in hospital six days later.
Police said the two were waiting at a red traffic light near the Las Vegas Strip when a white Cadillac pulled up next to them and gunfire broke out.
Las Vegas police have said in the past that the investigation was quickly halted, in part because witnesses refused to cooperate.
Shakur’s death came amid his feud with his rap rival, the Notorious Page, who was fatally shot six months later. At the time, both rappers were in the middle of the infamous East Coast vs. West Coast rivalry that primarily defined the hip-hop scene during the mid-1990s.
The feud flared up after Shakur was seriously injured in another shooting during a robbery in a hotel lobby in midtown Manhattan.
Shakur openly accused both B.I.G. and Sean “Diddy” Combs of having foreknowledge of the shooting, which they both vigorously denied. It sparked enough animosity that it created a serious division within the hip-hop community and fans.
In 2017, Shakur was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Snoop Dogg. This June, Shakur—an award-winning rapper, activist, and actor—was posthumously honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, having sold more than 75 million records worldwide.
Nevada does not have a time limit for prosecuting capital murder cases.
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