“F—k you”

A Las Vegas police officer has waited almost 18 years to reveal these last words that came from late rap legend Tupac Shakur. While they may not come as a surprise, the officer had his reasons for waiting.

Retired Sergeant Chris Carroll tells Vegas Seven he was the first officer at the scene on September 7, 1996. Shakur was shot multiple times after leaving a boxing match with former Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight.

“I grab the car door and I’m trying to open it, but I can’t get it open,” Caroll said. When he was finally able to open the door, Shakur’s limp body fell out of the vehicle. He caught the rapper with his left arm, keeping his right free to aim his gun.

Carroll said he attempted to get a “dying declaration” of a potential suspect from Shakur. He says the rapper ignored him at first. On the Bike Cop’s last attempt, he received a rather unexpected response. . “He looked at me and he took a breath to get the words out,” Carroll said, “and he opened his mouth, and I thought I was actually going to get some cooperation. And then the words came out: ‘F–k you’.”

Caroll said he’s waiting this long for two reasons: he has the freedom to speak about the case without reprimand since he has retired. Ultimately, he said he didn’t want Shakur, “to be a martyr or a hero because he told the cops “f—k you.” Like most rappers, Shakur did not have the best relationship with police. In his song, “I Don’t Give a F—k,” he discusses police brutality. He proceeds to call out several California police departments, the CIA and FBI.

By 1996, Shakur had become one-half of a growing East Coast-West Coast rap rivalry. He publicly accused New York-based rapper Christopher “Notorious B.I.G” Wallace of plotting an attack on him outside of a New Jersey recording studio. Wallace fell victim to a drive-by shooting in California in March 1997. Neither murder has been solved.