Tupac Shakur

On the evening of September 7, 1996, Tupac Amaru Shakur, one of the most influential rappers in hip-hop history, attended the Mike Tyson vs. Bruce Seldon boxing match at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. After the fight, Shakur and Death Row Records CEO Marion 'Suge' Knight were driving in a black BMW on the Las Vegas Strip when a white Cadillac pulled up alongside them at a red light near East Flamingo Road. An occupant of the Cadillac fired approximately 13 rounds into the BMW.

Shakur was struck four times, including once in the chest. He was rushed to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, where he underwent multiple surgeries. He died of respiratory failure and cardiopulmonary arrest on September 13, 1996, at age 25. Knight was hit by a bullet fragment but survived.

The shooting was immediately linked to the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop rivalry between Death Row Records and Bad Boy Records. Hours before the shooting, Shakur and his entourage had beaten Orlando Anderson, a member of the Southside Crips, in the MGM Grand lobby. Anderson, who denied involvement, was killed in an unrelated shooting in 1998.

For 27 years, the case remained officially unsolved despite being one of the most high-profile murders in American history. In September 2023, Las Vegas police arrested Duane 'Keffe D' Davis, a Southside Crips member and Orlando Anderson's uncle, who had admitted in interviews and a memoir to being in the Cadillac during the shooting. Davis was charged with murder with use of a deadly weapon and a gang enhancement. He was convicted in 2025 and faces life in prison.