Pictured above: Tupac hears Henry County Police Officer Mark Whitwell's testimony at Fulton County Court on the December 1, 1993 shooting.
On Halloween in 1993, in Atlanta, Tupac Amaru Shakur tried to stop two white police officers who were not on duty from harassing a black driver. But when one of them pulled out his gun, Tupac fired first in self-defense.
Tupac, the son of a Black Panther, advocated self-defense in social racism, especially against police brutality. In the early 1990s, he was a common figure at the Compton Shooting Range, where he and his friends spent time practicing target shooting.
Then, in the early morning of October 31, 1993, Tupac fired three shots at two white men who pointed guns at him outside his hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, unaware that they were off-duty police officers. The next morning, police arrested him and charged him with two counts of intentional injury.
The last photograph of Tupec's life on September 8, 1996
Although two versions of the story exist, investigators found Tupec's claims to be the most credible. The 22-year-old had just performed at Clark Atlanta University when a street fight turned violent. Tupac stepped forward to help when two drunken men harassed a black driver, and when an off-duty police officer brandished his gun, he shot in self-defense.
Just a month ago, Tupac was ambushed at the Quad Studio in New York and shot five times. From then on, he will forever be transformed into a rebel of the "life of a mob", who does not believe it, and lives a life of paranoia. Unfortunately, he was mysteriously murdered in Las Vegas in 1996, and his fears proved justified.
How Tupec got into a shootout with an off-duty police officer
As shown in the image above: On November 1, 1993, the day after the shooting, Tupac conducted a pretrial in the Atlanta City Court.
Born in New York City on June 16, 1971, Tupac was originally named Lesane Parish Crooks, who was renamed Tupac Amaru Shakur in honor of an Inca revolutionary killed by conquerors and named "Shakur" by his stepfather. His mother, Afeni Shakur, was a member of the Black Panther Party, who raised him in the revolutionary spirit of the party. But he also went to art school, studying poetry and ballet.
His mother, a former powerful militant, was tried on bombing charges, while Tupac used music to call for action. By the time Tupac was subjected to police violence in 1993, he had already achieved success in rap world with his debut album 2Pacalypse Now in 1991 and his follow-up album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. in 1993.
On October 30, 1993, Tupac performed at Clark Atlanta University. In the early hours of Halloween, he and the crew rode back to the Sheridan Hotel in a caravan to celebrate the show, with Tupac sitting in the front seat. But when they arrived at the hotel, they saw two white men beating a black driver in the middle of the road, blocking the entrance to the hotel.
Meanwhile, Clayton County Sergeant Mark Whitwel, 33, and his brother, Scott Whitwell, 32, henry county sergeant, and their two wives, had just celebrated Scott's wife passing the bar exam at the hotel. They said they were nearly hit by an unrelated driver when an argument began when they left and began to cross the street.
Tupac is in prison
This was the quarrel that Tupec and his staff were involved in. The staff said: "It looks like a fight. As we approached, we saw two white men attacking a black man. Tupac immediately jumped out of the car. ”
When Tupec jumped out, everyone in the caravan followed. Then, according to Atlanta Police Chief Herb Carson, "A police officer pointed a gun at this group of people. Later, at the hearing, Mark admitted it was him.
The Whitwell brothers were dressed in plain clothes, and no one present recognized them as police officers at a glance. It's unclear if they identified themselves before taking possession of the gun, but that wasn't what happened next.
The Whitwells were visibly drunk, and Tupac drew his own gun at the gun that the other side had drawn. Mark then smashed the window of Tupac's car with the butt of his rifle, and Tupac fired 3 shots with his 9mm Glock pistol. Two of the bullets hit the Whitwells, Mark was shot in the abdomen and he Scott was shot in the buttocks.
Why the charges against Tupac were dropped
As shown above: Two brothers, Police Officers Scott Whitwell and Mark Whitwell, were in court on December 1, 1993.
Hours later, police arrested Tupac at his hotel and charged him with two counts of aggravated injury. After receiving wound treatment, the Whitwells were discharged from Grady Hospital the next morning, while Tupac pleaded not guilty and paid $55,059 (about $35,000 now) in bail.
The fact that two police officers were drunk at the time of the shooting was revealed at a hearing on December 1, 1993, which was designed to decide whether a grand jury was needed for the case. Investigators also found that both officers were carrying guns stolen from the Evidence Room of the Henry County Police Department, which Scott Whitwell admitted.
Most notably, the two brothers lied about who was the aggressor, and before the prosecution discovered this, there was plenty of evidence that Tupac was no longer a well-meaning man, but shot in self-defense, dropping the charges against him.
Mark was accused of providing false statements to investigators and firing at Tupac's car, possibly because of his conflicting claims that the windows were broken. District attorneys later dropped the charges against him, and Mark Whitwell resigned 6 months later.
Ultimately, the event has a longer lifespan. The Whitwells sued Tupac in civil court, Mark's lawsuit settled out of court, and Scott's $2 million (about $12.72 million now) lawsuit resulted in a breach of contract judgment against Tupac's property in 1998, two years after Tupac's murder in Las Vegas.