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(Sunday, March 9, 1997, 12:45 a.m. PST) — Notorious B.I.G., a gangsta rap artist who turned his drug-dealing past on the streets of Brooklyn into a platinum-selling recording career, was was shot four times this morning in a still-unsolved drive-by shooting in Los Angeles which led to his death 30 minutes later.

The victim, whose real name was Christopher G. Wallace, had left a crowded party and was sitting in a sport utility vehicle when a vehicle sped up and began spitting gunfire, witnesses said. A bystander rushed Wallace, 24, to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, the police said.

Wallace was a fierce rival of Tupac Shakur, the 25-year-old rap star who was fatally shot in a drive-by attack six months ago.

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