Back to the drawing board: 'Lost' gun which police thought was used to kill Tupac was NOT involved in rapper's shooting and was destroyed in 2013 after being ruled out

  • Police found the gun in a backyard in Compton, California, in 1998 and sent it for testing
  • In 2006, the Las Vegas police ruled it out of the rapper's death and sent it to ATF
  • They found it was the gun used in another shooting but did not kill Tupac Shakur
  • In 2013, the ATF destroyed the weapon as part of a routine clear-out of evidence
  • It means that the weapon used to kill Shakur has never been found, nor has his killer  

By Jennifer Smith For Dailymail.com

Published: 09:18 EST, 23 December 2017 | Updated: 15:08 EST, 23 December 2017

The weapon police thought was used to kill Tupac Shakur in 1996 was not a match as previously thought and was destroyed in 2013 

The weapon police thought was used to kill Tupac Shakur in 1996 was not a match as previously thought and was destroyed in 2013 

The 'lost' gun police thought was used to kill Tupac Shakur was never involved in his shooting and was destroyed in 2013 after being ruled out, it has been revealed. 

The rapper was shot in Las Vegas in a drive-by shooting in 1996 which has left law enforcement agencies and music fans baffled for decades. 

His killer has never been found. 

Earlier this month, there was renewed hope and excitement when it was reported police had in fact managed to track down the weapon that was used to kill him. 

TMZ reported that the handgun, a .40 caliber Glock,  was found in Compton, California, in a backyard in 1998. 

Police in Los Angeles performed testing which proved it could have been a match for the weapon in the Tupac case, and transferred it to Las Vegas for additional tests. 

It was thought that the weapon was then lost but, on Saturday, it was revealed it was in fact destroyed in Las Vegas because cops there ruled it out. 

The weapon was not a match for the one in Tupac's case but was found to have been what was used in a separate unsolved case. 

Once they attached it to the separate case, the weapon was stored back into evidence where it remained until 2013. 

That is when it was destroyed as part of a routine clearout. 

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was the agency which was storing the gun once it was returned to them from the Las Vegas Police in 2006. 

Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in September 1996. Shown above is the car he was in when he was gunned down 

Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in September 1996. Shown above is the car he was in when he was gunned down 

The .40 calibre Glock (file image shown above) was found in a backyard in Compton in 1998 and was thought to have been a match but was not 

The .40 calibre Glock (file image shown above) was found in a backyard in Compton in 1998 and was thought to have been a match but was not 

Among the suspects was Notorious BIG, (seen together in 1993), Tupac's friend and rival who was himself shot dead in 1997 in another unsolved killing 

Among the suspects was Notorious BIG, (seen together in 1993), Tupac's friend and rival who was himself shot dead in 1997 in another unsolved killing 

Its spokesman confirmed its destruction on Saturday.  

The gun was discovered in a backyard by a member of the public in 1998.

A detective who was investigating the death of rapper Notorious BIG recognized the address as one which belonged to a known member of the Crips gang, it was claimed. 

It was revealed in the recent documentary Who Killed Tupac? which speculated that prosecutors and police did not properly investigate the rapper's death because they feared it would lead to more gang violence.

It comes after another documentary, Snapped: Notorious Set, claimed the legendary rapper knew his assassin - but his murder remained a mystery because police didn't care to investigate. 

Tupac was gunned down on September 7, 1996, while driving through Las Vegas. Numerous people - including Notorious BIG - were implicated in the death. 

It was not the first attempt on his life. A year earlier, he was shot while being robbed of jewelry in New York. 

Before his death, Tupac claimed Notorious BIG knew details of that robbery. 

Another suspect in Tupac's death was the Crips gang member Orlando Anderson who he was seen fighting with in a hotel lobby hours before he was shot dead in Las Vegas. 

Anderson died in a gang shooting in 1998. Notorious BIG died in 1997 in a drive-by shooting in California. His killer has never been found.