Cops seized ammo during Tupac shooting home raid, homeowner could still face charges: retired detective
Cops raiding the house of a man who has boasted of knowing who shot Tupac Shakur took .40 caliber ammunition cartridges from the scene this week — the same type used to gun down the rapper, a search warrant shows.
People familiar with the case also claimed to The Post former gangbanger Duane Keith Davis could still face criminal charges related to the 1996 Las Vegas murder of the rapper, who claims his nephew Orlando Anderson was the triggerman.
Greg Kading, a retired LAPD detective who investigated Tupac’s death and the fatal shooting of his rap rival Christopher Wallace, aka the Notorious B.I.G., told The Post he was “pleasantly surprised” when Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) executed a search warrant at a house where Davis lives on Monday.
“I understand that from a layman’s perspective of, ‘What in the world? Why after 27 years are they doing this,’” Kading said.
“The point is it shows Las Vegas PD is proactively investigating this. They aren’t letting this fade into obscurity. They don’t want this to go down in history as an unsolved case. They want to close it once and for all.”
LVMPD confirmed to The Post that the search warrant served on Monday at the Henderson, Nevada home of Davis’ wife, Pamela Clemons, was part of the Shakur’s homicide investigation.
The search warrant showed cops confiscated several computers, laptops and iPads from the home, as well as the .40 caliber cartridge — of which many of the same type of casings were recovered from the scene where Shakur was shot down on the famed Vegas strip.
Cops also confiscated tubs of photos dating back to the 1990s that could show Davis’ involvement with notorious LA street gang South Side Compton Crips.
Davis said he was inside a white Cadillac with Anderson and two others as they pulled up to Shakur’s vehicle on the Las Vegas strip the night of Sept. 7. 1996.
Davis said Anderson was the one who shot Shakur — affiliated with rival LA street gang the Bloods — as the rapper hung out of a BMW and flirted with women in a nearby car.
Tupac was shot with four bullets and died in hospital six days later. Former Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight, who was driving their car, was only grazed but has never publicly said anything about who the gunman was.
Kading said Davis did make a ‘proffer agreement’ – legal speak for a proposal – with LAPD in exchange for his statement on Shakur’s murder where he stated his nephew was the one who shot the legendary rapper.
Kading said Anderson, who also was a member of the South Side Compton Crips, pulled the trigger in retaliation against Shakur.
The “All Eyez on Me” rapper and others in his Death Row entourage attacked Anderson at the MGM Grand just prior to the shooting.
Kading explained Davis’ original proffer does not provide immunity, and Davis still could be charged in connection to the murder for any statements he makes outside of that agreement.
Over the years, Davis has done numerous interviews, television specials and even self-published a memoir titled “Compton Street Legends.”
Cops who executed the search warrant against Davis hoped to also find manuscripts and notes related to the book, which could be in the various laptops confiscated on Monday.
“Everything that he has said outside of that original proffer is not protected, so everything he has said publicly is self-incriminating evidence,” Kading told The Post.
Nevada does not have a statute of limitations on prosecuting murder cases, Kading said.
“This is obviously a long time coming and a bit unexpected,” the retired detective said. “I am pleasantly surprised because it shows that Las Vegas still cares about bringing closure to this case.
Anderson denied involvement in Shakur’s murder and was never charged. He was killed in May 1998 in another unrelated gang shootout aged 23.
Davis is the only remaining survivor among the four men who were in the white Cadillac that shot into the BMV where Shakur was sitting in the front passenger side, Kading said.
Kading said investigators and prosecutors could be mounting evidence to present to a Grand Jury, which would then decide whether to indict Davis for his possible involvement in the 1996 murder.
On Thursday, a man who answered the door of the Henderson, Nevada home where the search warrant was executed said he did not know Davis or his wife.
Don Sansouci, who also lives on the quiet desert suburban block, said he watched as police and SWAT apprehended a man and a woman from the home Monday night.
“I went to bed and my wife woke up and said, ‘There were cop cars all over the place,’” Sansouci said. “Police kept saying, ‘The occupants of 2204, come out with your hands up!’ They didn’t say any names. They repeated that for the next five to 10 minutes. Finally someone did come out and he was hollerin’ at them.”
Sansouci said a woman also was apprehended by cops. He said he was shocked to hear the arrests could be in connection to the Shakur cold case.
“It is very shocking to me because it’s literally so close to home, but I’m happy to see that Las Vegas Metro is still working hard on the case,” Sansouci said.
Patrick Carter, who lives a few doors from the home where the warrant was executed, said nothing like that has happened in the years they have lived on the quiet block. He also was shocked to hear that the occupants of that home could be connected to Tupac’s murder.
“It is a very quiet neighborhood. When you think about it, it is a good place to hide,” he said.
Shakur’s stepbrother, Mopreme Shakur, told CNN in an interview he and his family have been frustrated since Davis’ name has been floated around in connection to the murder for decades.
“This theory hasn’t been looked into for 27 years,” Mopreme Shakur said. “Why? My family’s been traumatized, my sister, my the daughter, my nieces, my nephews, we’ve all been traumatized, waiting. We’ve been waiting for something to happen, for someone to be proactive enough to take action.”
