Authorities in Nevada confirmed Tuesday that they served a search warrant this week in connection with the long-unsolved killing of rapper Tupac Shakur nearly 30 years ago.
Shakur, one of the most prolific figures in hip-hop, was killed on the night of Sept. 7, 1996, in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. He was 25.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said the search warrant was executed Monday in the nearby city of Henderson.
Department spokesperson Aden OcampoGomez said he could not provide further details on the latest development in the case, including whether it was served at a home or a business, citing the open investigation.
Nevada does not have a statute of limitations for prosecuting homicide cases.
Tupac was gunned down inside a black vehicle stopped at a red light near the Las Vegas Strip. Shot multiple times, the rapper was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died a week later.
Largely considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time, the six-time Grammy Award-nominated Shakur has had five No. 1 albums: 1995’s “Me Against the World,” 1996’s “All Eyez on Me,” and three posthumous releases—1996’s “The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory,” which was recorded under the name Makaveli, as well as 2001’s “Until The End of Time” and 2004’s “Loyal to the Game.”
Bay Area Roots
Although Shakur was born in New York City and spent some of his youth in Baltimore, his Bay Area ties ran deep, from his time in Marin City and his start as a rapper alongside Digital Underground in Oakland.
“If I’ma claim somewhere, I’ma claim Oakland even though I don’t live there,” he said in an interview, adding that the East Bay city gave him his schooling in “the game.”
In 2017, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame by Snoop Dogg. In June this year, the rapper received a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
His professional music career only lasted five years, but Tupac secured 21 Billboard Hot 100s, including two top 10 hits: “Dear Mama/Old School” in 1995, and his best-known track, 1996’s “How Do U Want It/California Love” featuring K-Ci and JoJo. The latter spent two weeks at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 from his final studio album and Death Row Records debut, “All Eyez on Me.”
According to Luminate, Tupac has sold 33 million albums (41 million when including track sales and streaming equivalents). The rapper’s on-demand video and audio streams total 10.1 billion.
He’s also had some museum exhibitions that paid homage to his life, including the “Tupac Shakur. Wake Me When I’m Free,” which opened in 2021.