News of September 17, 1996
Two Dead in Compton: Police Probe Link to Tupac and Dismiss It
Three hours before Tupac's death, two young men died in Compton from gunfire. Rumors spoke of retaliation, police found no connection.
At midday on September 13, 1996, about three hours before Tupac died in Las Vegas, two 21-year-olds were shot to death in Compton: Marcus Duron Childs and Timothy Flanagan were working on a car under the carport of an apartment complex on North Burris Avenue when a man with a handgun approached them and opened fire. A bullet injured a 37-year-old bystander.
Rumors from the Music Industry
The timing and location fueled speculation. Compton was the home of Suge Knight, and rumors in the industry held that the shooting of Tupac stemmed from a gang dispute and retaliation had begun. On September 16, a source within the Compton police confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that they were investigating this possibility.
A day later, the police walked back the assumption. Captain Steven Roller explained on September 17 that investigators had found nothing connecting the two murders to Tupac or to events in Nevada. Calm did not return, however: Two weeks later, police responded to a series of shootings with a major raid. The status of the investigation then and now is explained in The Investigation.