The murder of Christopher Wallace, also known as The Notorious B.I.G. (photos)

The murder of Christopher Wallace, also known as The Notorious B.I.G. and Biggie Smalls, occurred on the night of March 9, 1997, when the rapper
was shot four times in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, California which led to his death an hour later.

Shooting

Wallace travelled to Los Angeles, California, in February 1997 to promote his upcoming second studio album and film a music video for its lead single, "Hypnotize".

On March 5 he gave a radio interview with The Dog House on KYLD in San Francisco. In the interview he stated that he had hired security because he feared for his safety, not just because of the ongoing East Coast–West Coast feud and the murder of Tupac Shakur 6 months prior, but because of his role as a high-profile celebrity in general.

Life After Death was scheduled for release on March 25, 1997. On March 7, 1997, he presented an award to Toni Braxton at the 1997 Soul Train Music Awards in Los Angeles and was booed by some of the audience.

The following evening, March 8, Wallace attended an after party hosted by Vibe magazine and Qwest Records at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

Other guests included Faith Evans, Aaliyah, Sean Combs, and members of the Bloods and Crips gangs.

On March 9, 1997, at 12:30 a.m. (PST), Wallace left with his entourage in two GMC Suburbans to return to his hotel after the Fire Department closed the party early because of overcrowding.

Wallace traveled in the front passenger seat alongside his associates, Damion "D-Roc" Butler, Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Lil' Cease, and driver Gregory "G-Money" Young. Combs traveled in the other vehicle with three bodyguards. The two trucks were trailed by a Chevrolet Blazer carrying Bad Boy's director of security.

By 12:45 a.m. (PST), the streets were crowded with people leaving the event. Wallace's SUV stopped at a red light at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and South Fairfax Avenue 50 yards (46 m) from the museum. A dark colored Chevrolet Impala SS pulled up alongside Wallace's SUV. The driver of the Impala, a black male dressed in a blue suit and bow tie, rolled down his window, drew a 9 mm blue-steel pistol and fired at the GMC Suburban; four bullets hit Wallace.

Wallace's entourage rushed him to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where doctors performed an emergency thoracotomy, but he was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m. (PST). He was 24 years old.

His autopsy was released to the public in December 2012, 15 years after his death. According to the report, three of the four shots were not fatal. The first bullet hit in his left forearm and traveled down to his wrist; the second hit him in the back, missing all vital organs, and exited through his left shoulder; and the third hit his left thigh and left through his inner thigh.

The report said that the third bullet struck "the left side of the scrotum, causing a very shallow, 3⁄8 inch [10 mm] linear laceration." The fourth bullet was fatal, entering through his right hip and striking several vital organs, before stopping in his left shoulder area. That bullet struck his colon, liver, heart and upper lobe of his left lung.