Six months after the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur in Las
Vegas -- a case in which no arrests have yet been made -- MTV
News has obtained a 29-page document prepared by police in
Compton, California, which reveals that only a few days after
Shakur's murder last September 7th, Compton police had
already learned the name of the man some local gang members
believed to be responsible for the crime.
This document, it must be emphasized, is based largely on
the words of Compton police informants. It does not legally
prove who killed Tupac, nor does it legally prove that his
death was a gang murder. Proof is the job of the courts.
However, the Compton police document does contain a startling
account of the events that led up to Shakur's murder and a
shot-by-shot account of the five day blood bath his killing
seems to have set off in Compton. A gang-war that apparently
left three men dead and ten wounded. It also deals with a
host of questions as to the identity of the man who allegedly
shot Tupac Shakur.
This 29-page statement of probable cause offers some
intriguing answers. It was written up by Compton police last
September and was attached to a motion filed in February by
Suge Knight's defense team as part of their attempt to
overturn Knight's probation violation. Based largely on
information provided to the Compton police by their
gang-informants, the statement (or affidavit) gives an
unverified but considerably detailed account of gang-related
activity in Compton before and after the shooting of Tupac
Shakur in Las Vegas on the night of Saturday, September 7th.
According to the statement of probable cause, five days
after Shakur was shot, an informant with special knowledge of
the activities of the Bloods -- a man identified in the
statement as CRI or "confidential reliable
informant" #3 -- provided police with a sequence of
events which suggested that the shooting in Vegas might have
been the culmination of a beef that began at the Lakewood
Mall in Compton. The informant told Compton police that a man
named Travon Lane -- a Death Row affiliate also known as
"Tray" -- was at the mall's Foot Locker in July or
August of last year when he was confronted by several members
of the Southside Crips. There was a scuffle during which
Lane's Death Row medallion was taken from him.
Fast forward to September 7th in Las Vegas -- the night of
the Tyson/Seldon fight at the MGM Grand. According to the
affidavit, CRI #3 told the Compton cops that moments after
the bout, Travon Lane was walking through the hotel as part
of Death Row's entourage when he spotted a man later
identified as Orlando Anderson. The same man, Lane thought
who'd taken his medallion at the Lakewood mall two months
ago. Lane pointed the man out to Shakur. Shakur confronted
Anderson with the question "You from the South?" --
an apparent reference to the Southside Crips. A melee ensued
-- captured on tape by MGM Grand surveillance cameras.
Little more than an hour later, as a line of Death Row
cars snaked its way to a party at Knight's Club 662, a white
Cadillac with California license plates -- according to one
report -- pulled up to the right of Shakur and Knight's
vehicle. According to the affidavit, a passenger opened fire
with a Glock .40 caliber handgun, grazing Knight and
critically wounding Shakur -- as members of the Death Row
entourage watched from the cars behind Knight's.
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