Who killed Tupac Shakur? What we know about the rapper’s murder investigation, almost 30 years later

The answer to the question “Who murdered Tupac Shakur?” has remained a mystery for nearly three decades.

A law enforcement source told that an arrest has been made in Las Vegas in connection with the legendary musician’s 1996 murder.

According to a source familiar with the investigation, Duane Keith Davis, aka “Keffe D,” was arrested Friday morning. Davis’ Henderson, Nevada, home was searched in July as part of the ongoing investigation into the shooting.

According to the source, Las Vegas Metro Police Department officials plan to hold a news conference later Friday.

RELATED: A man suspected of being the shooter in Tupac Shakur’s 1996 murder has been arrested in Las Vegas.

After Shakur was shot leaving a boxing match on the Las Vegas Strip in September 1996, no suspect was apprehended for years. As the murder remains unsolved, conspiracy theories have emerged, leaving the world with more questions than answers.

Here’s what we know about the musician’s life, art, and death:

A well-planned shooting and famous last words

On September 7, 1996, while leaving a boxing match at the MGM Grand hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, Shakur was shot multiple times.

Investigators said at the time that he was in a car with former Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight when a white Cadillac with “two or three males inside” pulled up beside them and fired shots into the passenger side of their car. However, details are hazy because those in Shakur’s 10-car entourage have not come forward as witnesses.

Knight was lightly injured, and Shakur died six days later, at the age of 25.

Authorities stated at the time that Shakur was the intended target of the shooting that resulted in his death.

“Thirteen or fourteen rounds were fired; almost all of them went into the passenger side of the vehicle,” said a Las Vegas police spokesman at the time. “We feel pretty sure that Shakur was the target.”

Chris Carroll, a retired sergeant with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department who was the first officer on the scene of Shakur’s drive-by murder, spoke publicly about the rapper’s final words in 2014.

Carroll told Vegas Seven magazine at the time that after retiring, he felt he had more freedom to speak about the homicide case without fear of repercussions.

Carroll claimed that he attempted to obtain a “dying declaration” from Shakur, but the musician refused.

“And then I saw in his face, in his movements, all of a sudden in the snap of a finger, he changed,” said Carroll. “And he went from struggling to speak and being uncooperative to saying, ‘I’m at peace.'” Exactly like that… He went from fighting to declaring, ‘I can’t do it.’ And when he made that transition, he looked at me, right into my eyes. And that’s when I looked at him again and asked, ‘Who shot you?’… I thought I was going to get some cooperation when he looked at me, took a breath to get the words out, and opened his mouth. Then came the words: ‘F**k you.’ He then began gurgling and drifting out of consciousness.”

Years later, the house was searched

According to property records, the July search was focused on a home on Maple Shade Street in Henderson, Nevada, owned by Paula Clemons, Davis’s wife.

Davis claims to be a witness to the shooting that killed Shakur and is thought to be the uncle of Orlando Anderson, who has long been suspected of involvement in the murder, a charge he denied to CNN before his death in a gang-related shooting in 1998.

According to the affidavit requesting the warrant, police were looking for “notes, writings, ledgers, and other handwritten or typed documents concerning television shows, documentaries, YouTube episodes, book manuscripts, and movies concerning the murder of Tupac Shakur.”

Among the items seized from the Las Vegas home were several tablets, an iPhone, five computers, and a copy of Davis’ memoir detailing street gang life and the murder of Shakur.

A’street poet’ with a brief but significant career

Shakur was born in Harlem, New York, on June 16, 1971. His sister and he were raised by a single mother, former Black Panther member Afeni Shakur, until the family relocated to Baltimore, where Shakur enrolled at the Baltimore School for the Arts. The family quickly relocated to Marin City, California. Despite moving around a lot as a kid, Shakur considered Oakland to be his home.

“If I’m going to claim somewhere, I’m going to claim Oakland, even if I don’t live there,” Shakur said in a 1993 interview.

The rapper received 11 platinum albums: four during his career and seven more after his death. In November 1991, his debut album “2Pacalypse Now” was released.

Prior to his music career, Shakur wrote poetry, and he appeared in films such as “Poetic Justice” and “Above the Rim.”

While serving a prison sentence in 1995, Knight, co-founder and then-CEO of Death Row Records, paid Shakur’s bail in exchange for him signing on to his label. Shakur signed on the dotted line after agreeing.

You can’t discuss Shakur’s life without mentioning Christopher Wallace, also known as “The Notorious B.I.G” or “Biggie Smalls,” whose 1997 murder remains unsolved.

The two superstars, who were once friends, represented the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop rivalry, which pitted Shakur’s Death Row Records against Wallace’s.

Tupac’s fifth album, “Don Killuminati: The Seven Day Theory,” was released eight weeks after his death in November 1996.

Although Shakur’s career lasted only five years, his life and music had a significant impact on pop culture, inspiring musicians such as Janet Jackson, Ed Sheeran, Eminem, M.I.A, and Drake. Coachella, a California-based annual music festival, concluded in 2012 with a performance by Shakur, who was brought back to life via hologram.

His life and death have been examined in books, films, and documentaries since his murder, with one of the most recent projects, “Dear Mama,” streaming on Hulu. The five-part series follows both his and his mother’s lives.

Shakur was posthumously honored with the 2,758th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last month.

Fans look for answers

You’ve probably heard someone say the famous rapper is still alive, as there are many conspiracy theorists who do not believe Shakur is dead – and because no one has been prosecuted for his murder, fans have come up with their own theories over the years.

Since his shooting, there have been numerous theories circulating that the artist staged his own death after being hospitalized. Videos have surfaced on social media purporting to show that Shakur is still alive, and Reddit threads have speculated on where he might be hiding.

Despite the fact that the video and many of these theories have been debunked, fans have continued to share their thoughts. Some have even claimed that photos of actor Demetrius Shipp, Jr., who plays the slain rapper in the 2017 film “All Eyez on Me,” which is based on Shakur’s life, are actually of the rapper himself.

A novel theory

Davis describes himself in his memoir as one of only two living witnesses to Shakur’s shooting, the other being Knight, who was driving the car in which Shakur was a passenger at the time of the shooting.

Davis told BET in 1998 that he was in the front seat of the other car – the one that pulled up alongside Shakur’s car – when shots rang out from the backseat.

“I’m going to keep it for the code of the streets,” Davis said when asked who was responsible for pulling the trigger among the four men in the car. “It just came from the backseat, bro.”

MGM casino surveillance video shows Shakur, Suge Knight, and their entourage attacking Anderson, an L.A.-area gang member, three hours before the shooting. Anderson and his friends, many believe, shot Shakur in retaliation.

Carroll, a now-retired police lieutenant, told CNN affiliate KSNV this summer that he believes Anderson is the person who shot Shakur.

“I think it’s pretty significant,” Carroll said about the search warrant. “I don’t think anybody saw this coming.” It’s been 27 years now. I don’t think anyone had given up hope on any type of prosecution, and this, you know, changes the game and opens things up.”

The warrant stated that police were seeking “items that tend to show evidence of motive and/or the identity of the perpetrator such as photographs or undeveloped film, insurance policies and letters, address and telephone records, diaries, and other documents …”