By Ismael AbduSalaam
Tupac Shakur's murder case is approaching its 12th year and remains no closer to being officially solved, a fact the Las Vegas Homicide Department wants to change.
In an exclusive interview with AllHipHop.com, Las Vegas Police Department representative Ramon Denby detailed the current status of the investigation and dispelled rumors of the case being closed.
"We never close murder investigations," Officer Denby clarified. "But the case has gone cold, meaning there are no active or hot leads."
Tupac Shakur was gunned down in a drive-by shooting on September 7, 1996 on the Las Vegas Strip.
He succumbed to respiratory failure and cardiopulmonary arrest six days later.
The murder happened just three hours after Shakur was involved in a fight with Southside Crip member Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson.
While considered a suspect, the LVPD could not directly link Anderson to the slaying due to lack of evidence and witnesses.
Anderson was himself gunned down in 1998.
Tupac's mother Afeni Shakur had a wrongful death suit pending at the time of Anderson's death.
Despite the killing happening in a public setting with dozens of witnesses, no arrests have been made in the murder.
Much criticism has been leveled at the LVPD, who some accuse of apathy in their diligence to pursue all leads and theories in the slaying.
The LVPD counters by arguing murder investigations rely heavily on witnesses, a fact that has severely hampered any progress on Tupac's case.
"We are ready to follow up on any information that comes our way," Denby states. "But we need cooperation from the Hip-Hop community and the witnesses that were present. Without them, the case cannot move forward. There are people who know what happened and we continue to urge them to step forward."
There are currently two detectives assigned to the investigation, which is now in the Cold Cases Department.
When asked if he could disclose the last time there was a substantial lead, Officer Denby invoked police confidentiality.
"We really can't put that out there," he reveals. "Once facts like that are out there in the media it can hurt the case by possibly deterring potential witnesses and others from coming forward."
To conclude, Denby offered another plea to the Hip-Hop community to help solve the case.
"If you (AllHipHop.com) can get this out there please do so. We urge anyone with any information to step forward," he states. "We will exhaust any new leads or information. We are ready to do our part, but we need the community to do theirs to close this matter."
Tupac Amaru Shakur would have turned 37 this year, had he survived.