Afeni Shakur's Reckoning with the Las Vegas Police

Original: “Shakur’s mother rips Metro Police” · Las Vegas Sun · Cathy Scott · February 5, 1997

Five months after her son’s death, Afeni Shakur went public against the Las Vegas Metro Police. On the ABC show PrimeTime Live, broadcast on the evening of February 5, 1997, she accused investigators of never having spoken to her about the case. Her attorney Richard Fischbein followed up in the Sun: “It’s an outrage that Las Vegas police are sitting around waiting for a suspect to come to them.”

“Disney World of the West”: Fischbein’s Accusations Against the Police

Fischbein accused the officers of treating Tupac’s companions like criminals on the night of the crime: they had been forced to lie face down in the street. No wonder no one from the entourage cooperated. And he made a fundamental point: Las Vegas wanted to be a “Disney World of the West,” where a gang murder in front of the castle was bad for business.

No Leads, No Witnesses: The Police Push Back

The investigators pushed back. Lieutenant Wayne Petersen said Afeni Shakur had refused to talk at first contact; after that, everything went through her attorney. Sergeant Kevin Manning called the criticism “unwarranted”: a drive-by leaves little evidence, and as long as no one is willing to testify on the witness stand, the case is at a standstill.

While police believed they knew who had fired the shots, it was not enough for an arrest. In this context, the article mentioned Orlando Anderson, who had been questioned after a sweep in Compton in October 1996 but was never charged. Fischbein praised the investigators for that of all things: exercising restraint without evidence was the right approach.

Three Suspects, No Arrest, and a Late Confession

The report illustrates the deep rift between the family and investigators that defined the case for decades. The day before, the Los Angeles Times had reported that police had narrowed their list down to three suspects from Los Angeles, but doubted an arrest could be made without witnesses. Afeni Shakur continued to publicly push for answers in 1998.

Manning’s assertion that without witnesses they could make no headway held true for a long time. The turning point came only when Duane “Keffe D” Davis, Orlando Anderson’s uncle, began talking about that night himself. On August 31, 2026, he was found guilty in Las Vegas (not final, as of October 2026). Afeni Shakur did not live to see it; she died on May 2, 2016.

Correction to the archived text: Tupac was hit four times, not three.