Tupac Shakur-linked raid revives theories about former ‘prime suspect’

A Las Vegas-area police raid linked to the shooting death of Tupac Shakur sparked renewed interest and theories — pointing to a long-running suspect — in the unsolved 1996 murder of the legendary rapper Thursday.

Chatter about possible culprits and motives, including an East Coast vs. West Coast hip-hop beef and gang rivalry that has been previously cited by police lit up social media.

“Orlando Baby Lane Anderson shot Tupac, this case is closed according to the streets,” one fan tweeted.

“Tupac involved himself in some Compton gang beef that he had no business involving himself with…He jumped [suspect] Baby Lane at the Tyson [boxing] fight over some gang stuff that happened in LA,” another observer declared.

On Monday, cops seized copies of a book by South Side Compton Crips gang member Duane Keith Davis, 60 — aka Keffe D — the uncle of Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, who police once named as the prime suspect in Shakur’s murder.

Cops also seized hard drives and photos of possible suspects at the reported home of Davis’ wife Paula Clemons in Henderson, Nevada, during the raid, officials said.

In his 2019 book, “Compton Street Legend,” Davis claimed to be “one of the only living eyewitnesses to Tupac’s killing.”

He wrote that he was riding in a car with the gunman who fired the shots that eventually killed the “All Eyez on Me” rapper as he rode home from a boxing match in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, 1996.

Davis didn’t reveal the shooter’s identity in his book but Anderson was named as a suspect by Compton Detective Timothy Brennan in 1997, the year the cop was assigned to investigate the fatal drive-by shooting of rapper Biggie Smalls.

The detective cited an “East Coast vs West Coast” rap rivalry between Biggie, who used the Southside Crips as security, and Tupac, who used the Bloods-affiliated gang Mob Piru for protection, as a motive for the murders of both rappers.

Anderson, who belonged to South Side Compton Crips, was questioned by police but never charged. He died in an unrelated gang shootout in 1998.

But that didn’t stop Twitter users from resurrecting the theory this week.

“#Keefe D explains participating in the murder of #Tupac after [Tupac] jumped his nephew #OrlandoAnderson,who Keefe D told the #FBI was the triggerman,” one fan wrote on Twitter, linking to footage an interview with Davis.

No arrests have ever been made in the case, but in 2002 Brennan told the LA Times, “I believe Tupac’s murder could have been solved — and it still could be.

“All the clues are right there. What the investigation lacked was input from detectives who understood the gangs involved and how they operate and who all the players are. I believe justice could still be served,” the detective said.

The Harlem-raised “How Do You Want It” rapper was shot in the chest, arm and thigh while stopped at a red light with notorious Death Row Records honcho “Suge” Knight in Las Vegas.

He died at a hospital six days later, authorities said.

Davis has claimed in his book that Shakur “made an erratic move and began to reach down beneath his seat” for a gun as his car pulled up to a stoplight.

“Pac pulled out a strap and that’s when the fireworks started. One of my guys from the backseat grabbed a Glock and started busting back,” he wrote. “The first shot skinned Suge in the head and I thought that [he] was dead.”

“As the rounds continued flying I ducked down so I wouldn’t get hit,” he wrote.

On Thursday, social media was also abuzz with wild conspiracy theories about the cold case — including that the hip-hop star faked his own death, is alive in Cuba and was killed by the CIA.

Shakur is considered one of the most influential rappers of all time, with five No. 1 albums and six Grammy nominations.