Tupac’s chilling final words revealed in court by police officer 30 years after his death
Tupac Shakur’s final moments have been revisited in court, with a retired Las Vegas police officer recalling the chilling response the rapper gave when asked to identify the person who shot him.
According to testimony reported by The Sun, officer Garry Dale was with Tupac inside an ambulance as paramedics rushed the critically injured 25-year-old to the hospital following the September 1996 drive-by shooting.
Dale told jurors he repeatedly asked the rapper who had opened fire, but Tupac would not provide a name.
Instead, he reportedly responded: “No, we’ll take care of it.”
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The officer said Tupac repeated the phrase 'a couple times' but would not tell him anything more about the identity of his attackers.
The testimony came as the long-awaited murder trial of Duane Keith 'Keffe D' Davis gets underway in Las Vegas, almost three decades after Tupac’s death.
Dale told the court he had been attempting to gather information about the shooting while Tupac was being treated inside the ambulance.
“I was trying to talk to him to find out what had happened, gather information to see who had fired at them,” he testified.
“He was still talking, and I was trying to convince him to tell me the name of whoever his assailants were.”
But the officer said he could not persuade Tupac to identify anyone.
The encounter was particularly notable because Dale had crossed paths with Tupac only minutes before the shooting.
The retired officer told jurors he had been working on the Las Vegas Strip when he pulled over Tupac and Death Row Records boss Marion 'Suge' Knight.
Their vehicle did not have a visible rear license plate, but Dale ultimately allowed them to leave with a warning.
Minutes later, Tupac was shot during a drive-by attack. Knight was also wounded but survived.
How did Tupac Shakur die?
Tupac died six days after the September 7, 1996 shooting from gunshot wounds to his chest and abdomen.
Forensic pathologist and Clark County medical examiner Dr Lisa Gavin also testified during the trial, with jurors shown autopsy photographs that were not publicly broadcast.
Gavin said one bullet entered around Tupac’s right armpit before passing through a lung and into his chest. His lung collapsed and began bleeding, and doctors later removed it during emergency surgery.
Another bullet struck his right thigh before traveling into his abdomen and damaging his intestines. Gavin said there were no wounds to Tupac’s head and that she could not establish whether all the bullets were the same caliber.
Davis was indicted in September 2023 and is the only person ever charged over Tupac’s killing. He has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang.
Prosecutors allege Davis, described as a South Side Crips leader, helped organize the attack after Tupac and Knight were involved in an altercation with Davis’ nephew, a Crips member, earlier that night.
They claim Davis later provided the gun and called for Tupac to be shot in retaliation. Davis is not accused of personally pulling the trigger.
His trial began on August 17, with witnesses now giving jurors an account of Tupac’s final hours.
If convicted, Davis could spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Topics: Tupac Shakur, True crime, Las Vegas
Thomas Bamford