Police Suspect In Shakur Killing Sues Death Row, Shakur Estate

In a civil action filed Sept. 8 in California Superior Court in L.A., Orlando Anderson recounts his version of a clash with Knight, Shakur, and several unidentified individuals in the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas on the evening of Sept. 7, 1996.
Shakur was gunned down later that night as he rode in Knight's car on the Vegas strip. He died in a Las Vegas hospital six days later. To date, no one has been charged with the murder.
In a February report in The Los Angeles Times, Anderson, a reputed member of the L.A. street gang the Southside Crips, was identified by Sgt. Kevin Manning of the Las Vegas Metro Police homicide division as a suspect in Shakur's shooting. But Manning added that investigators had no direct evidence to connect him to the crime.
In his suit, Anderson alleges that he was the victim of an unprovoked 'rat-pack attack' at the MGM Grand, and that Shakur, Knight, and the other assailants 'kicked, punched, and struck (Anderson's) head, face, and various parts of his body.' He claims he received 'injuries to his ear, head, shoulders, and other parts of his body' and suffered 'severe emotional and mental distress and injury.'
Anderson seeks compensatory, general, special, and punitive damages to be determined at trial (Billboard Bulletin, Sept. 10).
An attorney for the Shakur estate could not be reached for comment. Knight's attorney David Kenner did not return a call seeking comment.
According to a published report, Anderson was interviewed by Las Vegas police following the altercation, but he declined to press criminal charges and was allowed to leave the hotel.
A security videotape of the MGM Grand incident played a role in another legal proceeding involving Knight. Word of the label owner's participation in the fracas led prosecutors to charge that he had violated his 1995 probation for an armed '92 assault on rappers Lynwood and George Stanley; at a hearing in February, he was sentenced to serve his nine-year sentence (Billboard, March 15).
Surprisingly, Anderson testified on Knight's behalf at the hearing, saying that the record executive was attempting to aid him during the brawl. But Judge J. Stephen Czuleger said during proceedings that Anderson's testimony was 'completely unbelievable.'
Knight, who is seen kicking Anderson once on the tape, said in court that it was 'not a nine-year kick.' However, before sentencing Knight, Czuleger, who had previously ruled that Knight was involved in the MGM Grand brawl, called him 'a danger to the community.'

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