Cathy Scott was employed as a reporter at the
Las Vegas Sun when Tupac was gunned down on September 7, 1996, in a drive-by shooting near the
Las Vegas Strip. She covered the case from the start and turned it into a book. The shooting occurred a few hours after the
Mike Tyson-
Bruce Seldon match, which Tupac and his music producer,
Suge Knight, were in
Las Vegas to attend. Tupac died from his injuries six days later, and Scott was the first to report Shakur's death. The killer has never been caught, although it is widely believed the
Crips gang member
Orlando Anderson, who was murdered 18 months later, was the shooter.
Compton, California, police interviewed Anderson, but he was never charged. Huntington Press released the book on the first anniversary of Shakur's death by issuing a 25,000-copy first printing, according to
Publishers Weekly. The book was number 2 on the
Los Angeles Times bestseller list in paperback nonfiction the week of June 11, 2000. Six months after the murder,
Unsolved Mysteries covered the case, following Scott through a reenactment of the crime scene.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department declined to be at the studio to field calls and participate when the show aired, saying the publicity would not help their investigation.
People magazine covered the case in 2007 as one of "six haunting mysteries that continue to confound police." The article quotes Scott as saying, "The case is cold. The Crips (street gang) shot Tupac, but who was behind it?" Upon the book's release, the internal affairs bureau of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department launched an investigation into how the
autopsy photo was released to the author. The investigation, which Scott has reported she did not participate in, ended 30 days later with no results. MTV News reported, the week of the book's release, that Tupac is dead, and publicized his "autopsy photo that should end all speculation as to whether the late rapper might still be alive," alluding to rumors that the star rapper and actor had faked his own death. Two years after the murder,
Los Angeles Magazine featured a story by writer Heidi Seigmund Cuda focusing on rumors about Tupac "
still living large" and described the autopsy photo as a "gruesome shot." As much as $100,000 was offered for the photo by tabloids. Scott has not revealed her source. In May 2014, a
Wyclef Jean YouTube music video, titled "April Showers", reignited the autopsy photo controversy when Scott lodged a copyright infringement complaint with YouTube because an image in the video was similar to the autopsy photo released in her book. YouTube banned the video.
TMZ, which broke the story, reported that the video director, Hezues R', and Scott had settled the matter and agreed that Hezues R' would include a screen credit to the book at the end of the video. == East Coast-West Coast rap war ==