Las Vegas Police Video Shows First-Ever Arrest in Rapper Tupac Shakur’s 1996 Killing

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson stands beside a photo of Duane "Keffe D" Davis during a news conference on an indictment in the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, in Las Vegas. Monitor in rear has name misspelled. (AP)
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson stands beside a photo of Duane "Keffe D" Davis during a news conference on an indictment in the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, in Las Vegas. Monitor in rear has name misspelled. (AP)
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Las Vegas Police Video Shows First-Ever Arrest in Rapper Tupac Shakur’s 1996 Killing

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson stands beside a photo of Duane "Keffe D" Davis during a news conference on an indictment in the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, in Las Vegas. Monitor in rear has name misspelled. (AP)
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson stands beside a photo of Duane "Keffe D" Davis during a news conference on an indictment in the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, in Las Vegas. Monitor in rear has name misspelled. (AP)

The man charged with murder in the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur knew the gravity of his arrest last week near his home on the outskirts of Las Vegas, according to police body camera footage released Friday.

“So what they got you for, man?” an officer asks Duane “Keffe D" Davis.

“Biggest case in Las Vegas history,” Davis says, recounting the date that Shakur was gunned down — “September 7th, 1996.”

Police and prosecutors allege Davis was the mastermind behind the drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip that killed Shakur at the age of 25.

Now, more than 27 years later, Davis was handcuffed around the wrists and in ankle shackles in the backseat of Las Vegas police car headed toward a county jail, where he remains held without bond.

“I ain’t worried," Davis told the officer. "I ain’t did (expletive).”

The police videos, totaling more than an hour of footage, show Davis arrested around sunrise on Sept. 29 while walking in his otherwise quiet neighborhood.

“Hey, Keffe. Metro Police,” an officer said. “Come over here.”

Davis, holding a water bottle, cooperated as he was patted down and handcuffed next to an unmarked police vehicle.

The 60-year-old had been a long-known suspect in the case. He publicly admitted his role in the killing in interviews ahead of his 2019 tell-all memoir, “Compton Street Legend.” His arrest came two months after police raided his home, renewing interest in one of hip-hop’s most enduring mysteries.

In the videos, Davis recalled the July 17 raid and peeking over a gate at the same time as a SWAT officer. He said his arrest that morning was much more low-key.

As they drove on the freeway en route to police headquarters to interview Davis, he asks if he was followed the previous night. The officer says no.

“So why you all didn’t bring the media?” Davis said.

The officer asked why police would bring the media.

“That’s what you all do," Davis said.

The self-described gangster from Compton, California, hasn’t yet entered a plea in the case, and he denied a request from The Associated Press for an interview at the jail. His longtime lawyer in Los Angeles, Edi Faal, told AP he has no comment on Davis' behalf.

Davis told police that he had moved to the Las Vegas area in January because of his wife's job. But the audio is redacted when police later ask him what he has been doing since the move.

In an indictment unsealed last Friday in Clark County District Court, Davis is accused of orchestrating the killing of Shakur and providing his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, with the gun to do it. Anderson, who denied involvement in Shakur's killing, died in 1998.

Grand jurors also voted to add sentencing enhancements for the use of a deadly weapon and alleged gang activity. If Davis is convicted, that could add decades to his sentence.

In Nevada, a person can be convicted of murder for helping another person commit the crime.

Davis' first court appearance this week was cut short when he asked the judge for a postponement while he retains counsel in Las Vegas. He's due in court again Oct. 19.

Authorities say Shakur’s killing stemmed from a rivalry and competition for dominance in a musical genre that, at the time, was dubbed “gangsta rap.” It pitted West Coast members of a Crips sect that Davis has said he led in Compton against East Coast members of a Bloods gang sect associated with rap music mogul Marion “Suge” Knight, founder of Death Row Records, the music label representing Shakur at the time of his death.



New Spielberg, Nolan Films Teased at CinemaCon

US actress Scarlett Johansson presents the film 'Jurassic World Rebirth' onstage during CinemaCon. VALERIE MACON / AFP
US actress Scarlett Johansson presents the film 'Jurassic World Rebirth' onstage during CinemaCon. VALERIE MACON / AFP
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New Spielberg, Nolan Films Teased at CinemaCon

US actress Scarlett Johansson presents the film 'Jurassic World Rebirth' onstage during CinemaCon. VALERIE MACON / AFP
US actress Scarlett Johansson presents the film 'Jurassic World Rebirth' onstage during CinemaCon. VALERIE MACON / AFP

Hollywood studio Universal Pictures on Wednesday teased new movies from Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan, while showcasing footage from its upcoming sequels "Jurassic World Rebirth" and "Wicked: For Good" at the CinemaCon event.

Spielberg "is currently shooting a film that promises to be a return to form, in the spirit of his monumental classics," said Universal executive Jim Orr, at the movie theater industry summit in Las Vegas.

The untitled film, out June 2026, is widely rumored to be a blockbuster sci-fi. Orr promised it would contain "a propulsive, modern, out-of-this-world twist," without sharing further details.

Meanwhile, Nolan is in the Mediterranean shooting his star-studded version of "The Odyssey," based on the millennia-old Ancient Greek epic saga written by Homer.

It is due July 2026, starring Matt Damon as Odysseus, alongside Tom Holland, Zendaya and Anne Hathaway, AFP said.

In a prediction bold even by the standards of Hollywood marketing, Orr suggested the film "will be a once-in-a-generation cinematic masterpiece that Homer himself would, quite frankly, be very proud of."

The comments came at CinemaCon, an annual week-long summit at which Hollywood studios present their biggest upcoming movies to theater owners and press.

A theme of this year's event has been a drive to get studios to commit to keeping new movies in US theaters for at least 45 days before they appear on streaming.

A source with knowledge of the talks told AFP Wednesday that three of Hollywood's six biggest studios have committed.

Universal, which has in recent years brought many of its films to on-demand streaming very soon after they debut in theaters, has not yet agreed to the new 45-day "window," the source said. The studio did not immediately comment.

But its efforts to court movie theater owners Wednesday included showing extended new footage and A-list stars from the next Jurassic movie -- out this July.

It comes from the writer of the original 1993 "Jurassic Park." The action returns to that film's island setting.

Unlike the "Jurassic World" films where dinosaurs freely roamed the globe, the fearsome reptiles are now once again scarce, surviving in a few remote spots.

Star Scarlett Johansson said the film would "put the scares back into Jurassic" by keeping the dinosaurs hidden and ratcheting up the suspense.

Universal's presentation ended with surprise appearances from Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, whose second and final "Wicked" film will hit theaters November.

CinemaCon concludes Thursday with presentations from Paramount and Disney.