Shakur and B.I.G. Died by the Sword

For two days The Times has been preoccupied with the shooting deaths of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. and law enforcement’s alleged failure to solve and prosecute their murders (Sept. 6-7). As one who is retired from the LAPD, I can tell you that deep down the detectives are thinking “good riddance” and asking why they should spend valuable manpower and resources on these street thug-drug dealers’ deaths when so many innocent victims of crime cry out for justice. Let these idiots kill off each other--who cares? Only their mothers and other “gangsta thugs.” We’re all better off for it.

Alan V. Weinberg

Woodland Hills

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Your two-part story on the killing of rap star Tupac Shakur was an excellent read. Times staff writer Chuck Philips tells a very interesting story about the rap industry and its gang affiliations and the incompetence of the Las Vegas Police Department’s homicide unit. Las Vegas Police Detective Kevin Manning is quoted in the Sept. 7 article, saying, “Tupac got the same treatment as any other homicide here.” If the other 167 murders investigated by Las Vegas Police Department that year were handled in the same manner as Shakur’s, I wonder how many of those homicides were cleared.

Brian Heyman

Downey

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Re “Who Shot Tupac?” Sept. 6: Who cares? It’s time people were judged not by their “talent” but by their deeds as human beings. He enjoyed violence; it gave him power. The world is better without him. Live by the sword, die by it and make space for decent people.

Yolanda Jones

Los Angeles