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September 16, 1997
Shakur Suspect: I Was a Fan
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A man police consider a suspect in Tupac
Shakur's slaying, and who is named in a wrongful death lawsuit by
Shakur's mother, maintains he was the rapper's biggest fan.
Orlando Anderson says he followed every twist of Shakur's
career until the man was killed in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, 1996,
the Los Angeles Times reported in today's editions.
"I didn't have anything to do with Tupac's murder,"
said Anderson, 23, of Lakewood. "To me, Tupac was like a
hero. I admired him. I respected his music. Everybody I know had
love for him."
Shakur's mother filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against
Anderson on Friday, alleging he fired the shots that killed her
son. Los Angeles police sources told the Times they still
consider Anderson a suspect, although Las Vegas police said they
have no direct evidence.
Police also claim Anderson is a member of the Southside Crips
gang. He told the Times he is an aspiring screenwriter who is
being falsely accused.
Four days before the wrongful-death suit was filed against
him, Anderson sued Shakur's estate, seeking nearly $1 million for
physical injuries and mental he said he suffered in an assault by
Shakur and several Death Row Records employees just hours before
Shakur's killing.
Shakur's mother, Afeni, based her lawsuit against Anderson on
allegations detailed in a Compton police affidavit filed a year
ago to obtain search warrants for a gang raid.
The affidavit contended that Shakur's killing was the result
of gang rivalry between the Southside Crips and Death Row
employees affiliated with another gang, the Mob Piru Bloods. It
alleged that Anderson shot Shakur.
"That entire affidavit is fiction," Anderson said.
He said Las Vegas told him last October that he was no longer
considered a suspect in Shakur's killing.
"No one has ever contacted me or asked me a single
question about it since. ... It's obvious that I'm
innocent," he said.
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