Twenty-seven years after Tupac Shakur was fatally shot, police have issued a search warrant in connection with the rapper's unsolved murder.
One of the most prolific figures in hip-hop was shot on the night of September 7, 1996, in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. He was only 25.
The 'Hit Em Up' rapper had attended a boxing match with Marion 'Suge' Knight - the now-incarcerated head of Death Row Records - and was sitting in the passenger side of his car when an unknown shooter rapidly fired shots at him, which hit his arm, thigh, right lung, and chest.
He was then rushed to the intensive care at the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada where he was heavily sedated and put on life support. Sadly, he passed away six days later, on September 13, after suffering from respiratory failure and cardiopulmonary arrest.
No arrests have ever been made in one of the more notorious cases in US history. Las Vegas police have said in the past that the investigation was hindered in part because witnesses refused to cooperate, according to The Guardian.
In addition to this, a 2002 investigation by Los Angeles Times journalist Chuck Philips implicated multiple people in the murder, including Tupac's hip-hop rival Notorious BIG, who strongly denied any involvement and was actually killed in a drive-by shooting six months later.
Now, almost three decades later, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department revealed that they raided a property in Henderson - a city 15 miles southeast of the gambling mecca - on Monday (July 17) as part of an ongoing investigation into the 'All Eyez On Me' rapper's murder.
Law enforcement shared a statement with Metro confirming the raid, stating: "LVMPD can confirm a search warrant was served in Henderson, Nevada on July 17, 2023, as part of the ongoing Tupac Shakur homicide investigation."
The department spokesperson Aden Ocampo Gomez also told The Guardian in a brief phone call that he couldn't provide further details on the latest development in the case, citing the open investigation.
Lesane Parish Crooks was born in East Harlem, New York, in 1971, and was the son of active members of the Black Panthers. He was renamed Tupac Amaru Shakur - his mother’s maiden name - at the age of one.
The late rapper was largely considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time. Despite his professional music career only lasting five years, he had five number-one albums including 1995’s Me Against The World, 1996’s All Eyez On Me, and three posthumous releases.
Tupac also earned 21 Billboard Hot 100s, including top 10 hits 'Dear Mama' and 'Old School' in 1995, and his best-known track, 1996’s 'How Do U Want It/California Love' featuring K-Ci and JoJo - which spent two weeks at number one.
After his shocking death, the Grammy-winning star was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Snoop Dogg in 2017 and in June of this year, he received a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The 'Changes' musician has also been granted tributes in California - where he grew up despite being born in East Harlem - and had a street named 'Tupac Shakur Way' near Lake Merritt.
