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Shakur Hurt in Drive-By Shooting Page 1 of 3 Shakur Hurt in Drive-By Shooting Controversial Rapper Critically Injured After Tyson Fight ALL INTORMATION CONSAINED PL. By Sharon Waxman - ANS? Aokerarel Special to The Washington Post AoOUblLuile AY AL SF Monday, September 9 1996; Page D0? WAS — aiga al The Washington Post LOS ANGELES, Sept. 8 -- "Gangsta" rap star Tupac Shakur was in critical condition in a Las Vegas hospital today after an assailant pymped four bullets into his head and chest during a drive-by shooting Saturday night. The 25-year-old rap star was shot as he and Marion "Suge" Knight, chairman of Death Row Records, Shakur's label, were on their way to a nightclub about 11:15 p.m. after watching the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon heavyweight title fight at the MGM Grand Hotel, police said. Shakur underwent emergency surgery for multiple gunshot wounds and remained under heavy police and private guard in the trauma-intensive care unit, according to a spokesman for University Medical Center. Knight, 31, was bit in the head by shrapnel and was released from the hospital today. The shooting was the most serious in a string of violent incidents involving the rap star, who appeared Wednesday at the MTV Video Music Awards, where he and members of his entourage got into an argument with several men in the lobby of New York's Radio City Music Hall. Police were called to break it up. In November 1994, Shakur was shot five times in the lobby of a New York recording studio when muggers stealing his jewelry opened fire. He has spent much of the past 2 1/2 years in court or in custody on various charges. A handsome, swaggering man with long eyelashes and a penchant for showy jewelry, Shakur has been a prominent symbo) for gangsta rap music, enthusiastically followed by teenage fans and long criticized by adults for its explicitly violent and sexual images. Saturday's incident underscored the fink between some rap stars -- despite their celebrity status -- and the dangerous milieu that gave rise to their music. Oct 18 1996 08:47 AM