More than 20 years have passed since the tragic death of Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas. As his legend lives on, fans continue coming forward with stories of chance encounters with the legendary rapper with the latest coming from Long Beach Poly High School.
According to Bleacher Report, just hours before sustaining the fatal gun shot wounds that lead to his death, a group of players and coaches from Long Beach Polytechnic High School football team recounted an altercation they had with Pac and his crew at an In-N-Out restaurant in the city of Barstow near the California/Nevada boarder.
The players were making a pit stop on the way back to Long Beach after a disappointing game loss in Vegas. At the same time Tupac and his entourage stopped for food before heading to Vegas for the Mike Tyson vs. Bruce Seldon fight at the MGM Grand. Noticing the rapper while they ate, several students excitedly made their way over to his car to speak with him. Mistaking the team for adult men meaning harm, members of the entourage drew their guns.
Not realizing the men walking up to the vehicle were minors, Tupac and his friends allegedly whipped out guns yelling for the teens to stop walking.
“He was extremely paranoid,” one player, Larry Croom, recalled. Croom went on to play in the NFL.
“He started cursing – he was irate. We were just kids, so it was definitely an overreaction,” he added.
Once Tupac and his crew realized the high school students meant no harm, the guns were put away.
“Because of the way Tupac embraced our group, it got a little lighter,” Rideaux told Bleacher Report. “A couple of guys peeled off as soon as they saw the guns and heard him talk angrily. But those of us who stayed around connected with him. It was brief, but it was a little connection.”
Shakur was gunned down later that evening outside the MGM Grand Arena. He died a few days later in a Las Vegas hospital.