‘Puffy’ Combs Had a Gun at Club: Witness

Hip-hop mogul Sean “Puffy” Combs tucked a gun in his waistband and pulled his shirt over it before entering a nightclub where gunfire later wounded three people, the key prosecution witness testified Thursday in the rap star’s trial on weapon and bribery charges.

“I saw Mr. Combs holding a black handgun, an automatic,” testified Wardell Fenderson, 42, a part-time driver for Combs. “It was in his right hand. The gun was pointing at me and I thought: ‘What in God’s name is he doing holding a gun? If this thing goes off, it’s going to hit me.’ ”

Fenderson said that after the rapper tucked the gun in his waistband he pulled his shirt over it, adjusted his belt in the area where he had placed the gun and then went into the Club New York in Times Square with actress-singer Jennifer Lopez and his entourage.

Combs, 31, a top record producer whose empire includes Bad Boy Records and the Sean Jean clothing line, is accused of illegal gun possession and bribery stemming from the Dec. 27, 1999, nightclub shooting, in which three people were wounded.

He faces 15 years in prison if he is convicted of the weapon charge.