The next fall Shakur
cut a deal with Suge
Knight. The rapper
agreed to sign a three-year
contract with Death
Row Records in exchange
for Knight putting
up the bail money
for Tupac's release
pending an appeal
of his conviction.
On September 24, 1995,
the West Coast contingent
suffered another blow,
and this time it was
fatal. The occasion
was a late-night birthday
party for a record
producer at the Platinum
House in Atlanta.
Suge Knight and Puffy
Combs were in attendance
with their respective
entourages. A fight
broke out outside
the nightclub and
shots were fired.
Jake Robles, a Death
Row employee who was
also a Mob Piru Blood,
lay on the ground,
seriously wounded.
Robles was a close
friend of Suge Knight.
Witnesses accused
Puffy Combs's bodyguard
of the shooting, and
Knight immediately
put the blame directly
on Combs.
A few days after Jake
Robles's death, Mark
Anthony Bell, an independent
record promoter from
New York, was contacted
by a mysterious stranger
who promised him a
record deal if he
"cooperated."
According to Randall
Sullivan in LAbyrinth,
Bell had gone to high
school with Puffy
Combs and had done
some work for Bad
Boy. The stranger
asked Bell to write
down the home addresses
of Combs and Combs's
mother on a piece
of paper and drop
them on the ground
where it could be
retrieved. The stranger
assured Bell that
his "help"
would never be revealed.
Bells refused to give
out any information
about Combs, suspecting
that the stranger
was in some way connected
to Death Row.
Three months later
Bell attended the
Death Row Christmas
party at Chateau Le
Blanc in Hollywood.
When Suge Knight arrived,
he went over to Bell
and asked, "Why
didn't you cooperate
when you had had the
chance?" Bell
told him that he didn't
know Combs's home
address. Knight invited
Bell up to the V.I.P.
room for a little
talk. Six other men
accompanied them,
including rappers
Dr. Dre and Tupac
Shakur.
In the V.I.P. room,
Knight continued to
question Bell about
Puffy Combs. When
Knight didn't get
the answers he wanted,
"an especially
scary-looking Blood"
punched Bell in the
face several times.
"This is for
Jake," the Blood
said, then promised
to kill Bell.
Suge Knight left the
room and went into
the bathroom. When
he returned, he was
holding a champagne
flute filled with
urine. He ordered
Bell to drink it.
When Bell refused,
the Blood hit him
again. Bell took the
glass as if he was
going to drink it,
then suddenly dropped
it and ran for the
balcony, intent on
escaping. The others
caught him as he tried
to leap over the railing.
They hauled him back
into the room and
beat him savagely,
taking orders from
Knight who shouted,
"'Body blows
only!'" Bell
finally played dead
and the beating ended,
but not before his
assailants stripped
him of his wallet
and jewelry.
Suge Knight awarded
special friends with
expensive Death Row
medallions that featured
the company's electric-chair
logo in gold and diamonds.
In July of 1996 a
Mob Piru named Tray
Lane was wearing his
medallion while shopping
with two fellow Bloods
at the Foot Locker
at the Lakewood Mall
in California. A group
of seven or eight
Crips entered the
store and jumped the
three Bloods. During
the melee one of the
Crips took Lane's
Death Row medallion.
It was a relatively
minor incident in
the ongoing gang war,
but it would prove
to be the spark that
touched off an explosion
in the East Coast-West
Coast feud, resulting
in the murders of
Tupac Shakur and Notorious
B.I.G.
At 8:45 P.M. on September
7, 1996—two months
after Tray Lane was
robbed of his Death
Row medallion—Lane
was in the lobby of
the MGM Grand Hotel
in Las Vegas. He was
with Tupac Shakur,
Suge Knight, and a
group of Mob Piru
Blood bodyguards.
They had just attended
the Mike Tyson-Bruce
Seldon prizefight
at the hotel—one
of Tyson's many Round
1 knockouts—and
were on their way
out when Lane spotted
a young man across
the lobby. The young
man's name was Orlando
Anderson, and Lane
recognized him as
one of the Crips who
had beaten him and
stolen his medallion.
Lane's group rushed
Anderson, knocked
him to the ground,
and proceeded to beat,
kick, and stomp him.
The 30-second incident
was caught on tape
by the hotel's security
cameras. It showed
Shakur and Knight
participating in the
assault, Shakur throwing
the first punch. By
the time the police
arrived, the Death
Row contingent was
gone. Anderson refused
to press charges.
Later that night a
caravan of luxury
vehicles was wending
its way through the
congested streets
of Las Vegas, heading
for Club 662, a known
Blood hangout. (662
is California penal
code for death row).
It was a Death Row
Records caravan, and
Suge Knight was behind
the wheel of the lead
car, a black BMW 750.
Tupac Shakur was sitting
in the front passenger
seat. At around 11:17
P.M., Knight pulled
to a stop at a red
light on Flamingo
Road. The streets
were jammed with tourists.
Shakur was flirting
with a car full of
girls to the left
of the BMW so he didn't
notice the white Cadillac
with four black men
inside pulling up
on their right. A
hand holding a gun
emerged from the Cadillac's
backseat through the
driver's window. Shots
were fired into the
BMW.
When Shakur realized
what was happening,
he tried to jump into
the backseat for cover,
but he was hit four
times in the chest.
A bullet fragment
grazed Knight's head,
but he still managed
to maneuver the BMW
around the stopped
traffic, making a
u-turn and heading
back toward the Strip.
The other vehicles
in the Death Row caravan
followed him. He finally
stopped when he ran
his car into a curb.
When the police arrived,
they called for an
ambulance for Shakur
and ordered everyone
else out of their
vehicles, treating
the Death Row entourage
as suspects. In the
meantime the white
Cadillac slipped away
into the night.
Shakur was rushed
to the University
Medical Center where
doctors performed
emergency surgery
to save his life.
In an effort to stem
the internal bleeding,
surgeons removed his
right lung. Suge Knight
stood vigil at the
hospital with Shakur's
family, waiting for
hopeful news. His
heart stopped beating
several times, and
doctors revived him.
Finally Shakur's mother
Afeni decided not
to resuscitate her
son if he went into
arrest again, explaining
to reporters that
"it was important
for his spirit to
be allowed to be free."
Six days after he
was shot, Tupac Shakur
died.
When Shakur's body
lay face up on a gurney
about to be autopsied,
his infamous tattoos
were fully displayed,
including his signature
phrase, THUG LIFE,
in large letters in
a semi-circle around
his abdomen.
