The hip-hop star was shot dead, aged 25, in 1996 while a passenger in a black BMW stopped at traffic lights on a street near the Las Vegas Strip.
A man has been charged in Las Vegas with the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur.
The hip-hop star – regarded as one of the most influential rappers of all time – was shot dead in the Nevada city in September 1996.
However, his shooter has never been identified, and the case has frustrated investigators and fascinated the public ever since.
A Nevada grand jury has now indicted 60-year-old Duane “Keffe D” Davis on a charge of murder with use of a deadly weapon.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department sheriff, Kevin McMahill, said Tupac’s family had been waiting 27 years for justice.
“This investigation started on 7 September 1996. It is far from over,” he said in a news conference on Friday.
“While I know there’s been many people who did not believe that the murder of Tupac Shakur was important to this police department, I’m here to tell you that is simply not the case.
“Our goal has always been to hold those accountable and responsible for Tupac’s violent murder, accountable.”
Tupac’s sister, Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, described the charge as a victory. She said: “This is no doubt a pivotal moment. The silence of the past 27 years surrounding this case has spoken loudly in our community.
“It’s important to me that the world, the country, the justice system, and our people acknowledge the gravity of the passing of this man, my brother, my mother’s son, my father’s son.”
‘Leader and shot caller’
Davis is the uncle of Orlando Anderson – one of Tupac’s known rivals – who authorities had long suspected in the rapper’s death.
Anderson was involved in a casino brawl involving Tupac and his associates on the night of the star’s death.
He denied any involvement in the rapper’s killing at the time, and died two years later in an unrelated gang shooting.
Davis, who at the time was a member of the South Side Compton Crips gang, admitted in previous interviews and in his 2019 tell-all memoir, “Compton Street Legend” that he was in the car allegedly used in the attack.
Homicide Lieutenant Jason Johansson, of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, called Davis the “leader and shot caller” of the gang.
He said Davis had planned the attack as “retaliation” for the earlier incident in the casino involving Anderson.
“Little did anyone know that it is this incident that would ultimately lead to the retaliatory shooting of Tupac Shakur,” Lt Johansson told the news conference.
“Word spread among the South Side Compton Crips about what had occurred [in the casino].
“That is when Davis began to devise a plan to obtain a firearm and retaliate for what occurred against Anderson.”