According to eyewitnesses, the first shots Eric "Lil Shitty" Holder fired at Nipsey Hussle didn't kill Nip.

And when the late rapper kept talking Holder came back and shot him some more.

TMZ reports:

Sources at the scene of Nipsey's murder tell us ... after Eric Holder allegedly shot Nipsey twice and the rapper fell to the ground, Nipsey raised his head and said something to the effect of, "You shot me, you got me, I'm good."

We're told Holder -- who had already started to walk away -- turned around and walked back in Nipsey's direction when he realized the rapper was still alive. That's when Holder fired additional shots at Nipsey ... those bullets, eyewitnesses believe, that killed him.

Holder was arrested shortly after the incident and charged with a count of murder, two counts of attempted murder and a count of possession of a firearm by a felon. He's locked up on a $7 million bond and has been placed in solitary confinement for his own protection.

The woman who drove Holder away after the incident was questioned by police and released. She claims she had no idea what Holder had just done.