Tupac Shakur Is Still Alive, According to Hackers

A false report stating that rapper Tupac Shakur is alive and living out of the country, sent the Internet into a fury over the weekend, crashing the website from which the story originated.

The story, originally posted on PBS's NewsHour blog, was the act of hackers who broke into the site and posted the news. According to reports, hackers also disclosed the personal account information of PBS employees, as retaliation for what they saw as a distasteful documentary the network ran about the website WikiLeaks.

The story alleged that Shakur, who was gunned down in 1996, has been living in New Zealand along with one-time rival Notorious B.I.G., who was killed one year later. The article stated that the diary of a 28-year-old deceased New Zealand man revealed that Shakur has been living in a small town in order to maintain anonymity.

Readers apparently jumped on board with the fake story, which received over 3,000 "likes" on Facebook. After the news broke, authorities reportedly closed down routes to the town, and would not confirm or deny the claims.

Shakur was the victim of a drive-by shooting after leaving a Las Vegas boxing match at the MGM Grand on Sept. 7, 1996. He died six days later from internal bleeding. Both his murder and B.I.G.'s remain unsolved.