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Tag: las vegas shooting

  • Judge to Hear Evidence Challenge in Tupac Shakur Murder Case

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    A Nevada judge will hear a defense motion seeking to suppress evidence in the long-awaited murder case against Duane “Keffe D” Davis, as the only person charged in the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur faces a trial delay until August 2026

    A Nevada district court is set to hear a defense motion next month that could shape the long-awaited murder trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis, the only person ever charged in connection with the fatal shooting of hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur in 1996. Meanwhile, the trial itself has been postponed until the summer of 2026 as both sides deal with extensive evidence and pretrial legal battles.

    A motion to suppress evidence, filed by defense attorneys Robert Draskovich and William Brown, challenges the legality of the nighttime search of Davis’ Henderson, Nevada, home following his arrest in September 2023. Lawyers argue that the search warrant was improperly authorized, alleging that police misled a judge about Davis’ criminal status, potentially making key evidence inadmissible at trial. The hearing is expected next week in Las Vegas’ Clark County District Court in Nevada.

    In addition to the suppression motion, Davis’ defense team successfully persuaded a judge to delay the trial, which is now scheduled for August 10, 2026, citing the “overwhelming” amount of evidence that attorneys must review. The murder trial has now been pushed back multiple times. Defense filings had argued that more time was needed not only to examine the “voluminous discovery material” but also to interview witnesses who could contradict prosecutors’ timeline and assertions. The murder of Tupac Shakur is one of the country’s most infamous cold cases, with many witnesses now deceased as more time continues to pass.

    Davis’ counsel has also pursued other pretrial avenues, including motions to dismiss the charges entirely on constitutional grounds and appeals to the Nevada Supreme Court. They claimed Davis’ rights were violated by the nearly three-decade delay before charges were brought, and that statements he made in past interviews plus a 2019 memoir should be excluded or treated as fiction (and the fact that he entered into a proffer agreement at one point). A previous motion to dismiss was rejected, but an earlier appeal remains pending. Davis was notorious for allegedly speaking out on the death of Shakur for money and/or clout before he was finally arrested and charged.

    In a separate proceeding, Davis was sentenced in September 2025 to 16 to 40 months in prison after being convicted of a jailhouse fight with another inmate at the Clark County Detention Center. He’s expected to serve this sentence while continuing to await trial on the murder charge.

    The 1996 killing of Shakur, an iconic figure in rap music, occurred just off the Las Vegas Strip after the rapper attended a boxing match with Suge Knight (who was also injured in the shooting). Shakur was struck multiple times in the drive-by shooting and died six days later. No one had been charged in his death until the 2023 indictment of Davis, a former gang member whose public recounting of the shooting played a role in reigniting the investigation. Davis’ next court date is January 6, 2026.

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    Lauren Conlin

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  • The Worst Tragedies in Las Vegas History • This Week in Gambling

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    Eight years ago this week one of the worst tragedies in Las Vegas history… and one of the darkest days in America… occurred in Nevada. And as we remember the victims of the Las Vegas shooting, we also wanted to take just a few moments to recall some of the other tragic events that have affected the city over the years. So, that’s what we’re going to do on this special edition of This Week in Gambling.

    It was a Sunday, just past 10 in the evening, and I was playing poker on the Strip a few miles away from a lunatic with a vendetta. Families lost loved ones that night, simply because they attended a concert, But as horrific as that was, over the years there have been other disturbed individuals, natural disasters and accidents with even higher death tolls.

    It was just a few months ago when a fight on the strip led to a shooting outside of the Bellagio, killing two. The University of Nevada Las Vegas shooting occurred in 2023, resulting in a lock-down and four dead. And you may remember the woman who intentionally drove her car onto a crowded sidewalk outside of Paris in 2015, ending the life of another innocent tourist. Sometimes, however, one of these tragedies in Las Vegas comes from an accident, or series of accidents, like the ones leading to the nine fatalities during the construction of City Center from 2006 to 2008. Or a natural disaster, like the flooding of 1999, which swept two souls to their deaths.

    There have, there have been other attacks and acts of terror over the years as well. A shooting outside the Flamingo… the cyber truck explosion… Tupac. But when it comes to the greatest loss of life in Las Vegas, most everyone remembers just where they were that night on October 1st, 2017. An entire city sheltered in place, not understanding what was happening until 60 people lay dead near the Strip.

    One man with over 20 guns fired more than 1000 rounds into a crowd at a country music concert. From the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay where he had barricaded himself in his room. Police were initially unsure of where the shots were coming from, but as they figured it out, police were initially unsure of where the shots were coming from, but as they began to figure it out and close in, the gunman took his own life in the ultimate act of cowardice. And the aftermath was the worst mass shooting in US History.

    But as shocking and appalling as that day was, there were two other tragedies in Las Vegas that took even more lives. We come to November 21st, 1980, and while you might not recall that particular day, it changed the city and the hotel industry forever. Before it was the Horseshoe, the property at the southeast corner of Flamingo and the Strip was Bally’s. But before it was Bally’s, it was the original MGM Grand. And at just after 7:00 am on that fateful fall morning, flames were discovered in a restaurant.

    Calls for help went out as the fire spread at over 10 miles an hour. That’s more than 15 feet per second, and it took just six minutes before the entire casino floor was engulfed. Fire crews were on the scene within two minutes, but as many guests were sleeping and toxic fumes and smoke rose through the shafts and ducks. Many died in their sleep. Some were trapped in rooms, stairwells and elevators. Many guests tried. Many guests tied bed sheets to their balconies and were rescued by firefighters.

    Others ran to the roof where helicopters lifted over 1000 people to safety. All told more than 350 firefighters extinguished the flames just after noon, but not before. 85 people laid dead, making it one of the worst hotel fires in America and one of the darkest days in Las Vegas history. However, as a result of this tragedy, automatic fire alarms and sprinkler systems became a requirement for hotels built in the US, as did the mandatory retrofitting of sprinklers and existing hotel and their rooms.

    And that brings us to the last of the tragedies in Las Vegas on our list, which is not so much a dark day as it is a dark period of time. You see, there is no Las Vegas without Lake Mead. And there is no Lake Mead without the Hoover Dam. And building it was a monumental, five year process from 1931 to 1936, during which time many of the workers lost their lives. Most were killed by the heat or when they fell, some when rocks broke loose from canyon walls, or went flying from the blasting and others from being hit by construction equipment.

    Despite rumors, however, there are no bodies buried in the concrete. But over the years, tragically, some have chosen the dam and the nearby bridge over the river as the spot to end their own lives. All told 96 people died building this project, making it one of the darkest and deadliest times in Las Vegas history. But today, the lake that formed behind that dam supplies almost 90% of the water that Las Vegas needs. So the next time that you take a shower at your resort, walk past the horseshoe, or look up at Mandalay Bay. Take just a moment to remember and stay alert. In a world that can change very quickly.

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    This Week in Gambling

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  • New FBI Docs: Las Vegas Mass Shooter Was Angry At Casinos

    New FBI Docs: Las Vegas Mass Shooter Was Angry At Casinos

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    LAS VEGAS (AP) — The high-roller gambler who opened fire on concertgoers on the Las Vegas Strip had lost tens of thousands of dollars while gambling weeks before the mass shooting and was upset about how the casinos had treated him, according to FBI documents made public this week.

    The documents reveal the strongest indication of a motive for the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. They paint a detailed account of gunman Stephen Paddock’s final days before the Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting that killed 60 people and injured hundreds more.

    A gambler whose name is redacted from the hundreds of pages of documents told the FBI that Paddock “was very upset at the way casinos were treating him and other high rollers.”

    Neither the FBI nor the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the lead investigating agency, presented an official motive for the shooting. Both agencies have said Paddock acted alone.

    The 10-minute massacre unfolded on the final night of the three-day Route 91 Harvest music festival across the street from the Mandalay Bay resort. Authorities have said Paddock, 64, unleashed a barrage of bullets into the festival crowd from his corner suite on the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay.

    FILE – This Oct. 2017 photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Force Investigation Team Report shows the view of Las Vegas Village from Mandalay Bay’s room 32-135, part of the evidence images included on a preliminary report showing the interior of Stephen Paddock’s 32nd floor room of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas.

    This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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