THE FIRST SHOOTING OF TUPAC SHAKUR
Andre Harrell (then CEO, Uptown Entertainment): That night, when I went to the studio, there were three sessions going on. There was Little Shawn's session, then upstairs SWV was happening and, on the other floor, Biggie Smalls (The Notorious B.IG) was doing his thing. Everybody was excited about Pac comin' in, but we were starting to get antsy because he was supposed to get there at a certain time, and we wanted to see how this song with Little Shawn was going to set off.
Sean "Puffy" Combs (CEO, Bad Boy Entertain-ment): I was at Quad to check B.I.G. and when I get off the elevator, you have to stop in a reception area, and there's this Little Shawn session with Andre. So I stopped to say, What's up?
Tupac Shakur: I was with my homeboy, stretch, his man Fred, and my sister's boyfriend Zane.
Randy "Stretch" Watkins (friend): We get around the corner and we see this nigga standing in front of the studio with an army fatigue jacket on. He sees us, looks at his watch, then looks down. There's somebody sitting inside by the elevators lookin' at his newspaper. We're not really payin' them no mind. So they buzz us in, and the kid that was in front of the building comes in behind us.
Tupac: I pressed the elevator button, turned around, and that's when the dudes come out with the guns, two identical 9mms. They yell, Don't nobody move. Everybody on the floor. You know what time it is. Run your shit. I was like, what should I do? I'm thinking Stretch is going to fight - he was towering over those niggas.
Stretch: So Pac turns around like he's about to go for his joint, 'cause Pac was strapped, but niggas caught him. Grabbed his hand when it was by his waist.
Tupac: Everybody dropped to the floor like potatoes, but I just froze up. They said, Take off your jewels. And I wouldn't take them off. The light-skinned dude, the one that was standing outside, was one me. Stretch was on the floor, and the dude with the newspaper was holding a gun on him. He was telling the light-skinned dude, shoot that motherfucker! Fuck it! I got scared, because the dude had the gun to my stomach.
Stretch: Then a shot went off and it was like, oh shit! Niggas is not playing. After the shoot, boom Pac hit the floor. Afterwards Pac said all this shit, like I thought Stretch was gonna fight. He was towering over them. Now, that nigga know I ain't going out like no bitch, but I ain't dumb. I ain't got no gun. What the fuck am I supposed to do? I might be towering over niggas, but I ain't towerin' over no slugs.
Tupac: I felt it in my leg. I didn't know I got shot in my balls. I dropped to the floor. Everything in my mind said Pac, pretend you're dead.
Stretch: His head was bleeding and his eyes were closed. Your man gets dropped, and he falls right next to you, that shit bug you the fuck out. The other nigga kept the joint on me and Zane, and the kid with the army fatigues started takin' off Pac's jewels and shit. He was calling Pac a bitch-ass nigga, kickin' him and shit
Tupac: Then I felt something on the back of my head. Something real strong. I thought they stomped me, or pistol whipped me. I saw white, just white, I didn't hear nothing.
Stretch: After they finished robbing, they stepped out, walking backward and pointing the guns at us.
Tupac: My sister's boyfriend turned me over and said, Yo, are you all right? I was like, Yes, I'm hit. I'm hit! And Fred is saying, he's hit and that was the bullet that went through my leg. So I stood up and went to the door.
Stretch: We got in the elevator and went upstairs.
Sean "Puffy" Combs: I'm about to go to Biggie's session when Pac comes out of the elevator and he's shot up.
"Booker" (rap scene fixer, invited Tupac to the studio): About midnight, Tupac comes off the elevator. It looked like he just got in a scuffle. Then I seen the blood. He was pacing back and forth hysterically talking about, Call the police, call the police. Then he looked at me and said, you the only one who knew I was coming. You must've set me up.
Andre Harrell: Tupac was just bopping back and forth saying, I was set up. At first I didn't realize that he had been shot, because he wasn't bleeding heavily from the head. It looked like he had a fight.
Little Shawn: He caught everybody by surprise, for only a split second until the shock wore off. Nobody really wanted to fuck with him because he was jumping around like an animal.
Tupac: I didn't know I was shot in the head yet. I didn't feel nothing. I opened my pants, and I could see the gunpowder and the hole in my Karl Kani drawers. I didn't want to pull them down to see if my dick was still there. I just saw a hole and went, Oh shit, roll me some weed. Nobody approached me. I noticed nobody would look at me.
Sean "Puffy" Combs: He was holding his groin area and limping a little bit. Nobody turned their backs on him. Immediately Andre was, like, oh my God, call the ambulance.
Andre Harrell: I was basically the one taking care of the police and the ambulance people. I wasn't making any calls. I was directing the studio exactly who to call, so I was talking more to Stretch because the paramedics were looking at Pac. There was no need for me to look at the wound.
Biggie Smalls: Everybody was like, Yo Pac just got shot. So I'm on my way downstairs, no gat, to see what's up with my man. Everybody holding me back. I got downstairs and everybody's on some lockdown shit.
Tupac:First cop I looked up to see was the cop that took the stand against me in the rape case. He had half a smile on his face, and he could see them looking at my balls. He said, what's up, Tupac? How's it hanging?
Andre Harrell: I remember telling Stretch, you got to go with him. Cause I wasn't trusting the police with Tupac. He had too many open issues with the police.
Tupac: When I got to the Bellevue hospital, the doctor was going, Oh my God! This is the entry wound and this is the exit wound. And when he did that, I could actually feel the holes. That's when I said, Oh shit, You don't know how lucky you are. You got shot five times.
Dr. Leon Pachter (Bellevue Hospital Trauma Dept Head): He was hit by a low caliber bullet. If it had been a high caliber bullet, he'd have been dead.
Tupac: I have headaches. I wake up screaming. I've been having nightmares, thinking they're still shooting me. All I see is niggas pulling guns, and I hear the dude saying, shoot that motherfucker! Then I'll wake up, sweaty as hell.
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