Tupac's Murder Weapon Was Found, But No One Knows Where It Is
On September 7, 1996, Tupac Shakur was murdered. The 25-year-old rapper was fatally shot during a drive-by in Las Vegas. Shakur was struck four times with .40 caliber rounds fired from a Glock.
Shakur was in a car with Suge Knight, when they were stopped by Las Vegas police officers for playing their stereo too loud at 11:05 p.m. They were released a few minutes later without being cited, and just 10 minutes later, a four-door white Cadillac pulled up next to Knight and Shakur, rolled down a window, and opened fire.
Tupac Shakur's death is still mourned more than 20 years later, as people are heartbroken at the loss of such a young talent. The prime suspect, Orlando Anderson, died just two years after Shakur's murder, and was never charged with the crime.
There are still questions surrounding who killed Tupac, and it turns out a prime piece of evidence which could help solve the case completely disappeared from police custody.
According to a new documentary on A&E titled Who Killed Tupac?, the handgun used to murder Tupac Shakur was found in a backyard in Compton...way back in 1998. A police document showed that a .40 caliber Glock was found by an anonymous citizen, two years after the murder took place. Compton P.D. shows the weapon was booked as "found property" on May 30, 1998.
In 2000, Compton P.D. was taken over by the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, and confiscated 3,800 firearms. Included in the confiscation was the alleged murder weapon. Fast forward a few years to 2006, when Deputy T. Brennan, who was also investigating the Notorious B.I.G.'s murder, was looking through old records. When Brennan came across the recovered gun, he immediately recognized the address as that of the girlfriend of a prominent Crip member, who was known to have beef with Tupac.
Deputy Brennan ordered ballistic testing on the firearm, and the results matched those of the firearm used to kill Tupac. In theory, the weapon should have immediately been transferred BACK to Las Vegas, as Tupac's murder is still an unsolved crime. However, a federal prosecutor recommended the gun NOT be turned over to the LVPD, citing concerns about "potential conspirators." The prosecutor seemed to think that if it was revealed a Crip was responsible for Tupac's murder, gang violence would renew.
But, here's the issue now: no one knows where the gun ended up. According to the LVPD, the gun never arrived in their custody, but it's also not believed to be with the L.A. County Sheriff's Department. If anyone does know where the gun is, they're definitely not making it known.