Shyne Fired Three Times Inside Club, Security Guard Testifies

NEW YORK - A Club New York security guard testified Thursday morning that he saw Jamal "Shyne" Barrow fire a gun three times - once into a wall and twice into a group of people - in the early morning hours of December 27, 1999.

"I saw Mr. Shyne coming from the back of the club . running," security guard John Hassan Mahamah said. "Next thing I saw was fire right across my face. . I saw it was a gun."

Mahamah then said he saw bodyguard Anthony "Wolf" Jones grabbing Shyne to try to stop him from shooting.

"What is wrong with you?" Jones yelled at Shyne, Mahamah testified.

Jones faces bribery and gun-possession charges in relation to the Club New York incident. He has not been accused of brandishing or firing a gun.

Mahamah said he had no idea where Sean "Puffy" Combs was when Shyne allegedly fired.

But, under cross-examination from Combs' lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, Mahamah acknowledged that he had told an insurance investigator that at the moment Shyne allegedly fired, he saw Combs holding Jennifer Lopez. He also said he had seen another security guard with his arm around Combs a minute before the shooting.

Prosecutor Matthew Bogdanos has accused Combs of firing a gun at roughly the same time as Shyne.

Shyne stared intently at Mahamah as he described the shooting.

Another witness, rapper Gavin "Pretty Boy" Marchand, who is rapper Foxy Brown's brother, identified for the first time the man with whom Combs allegedly argued just before the shooting. Marchand identified the man by the street name "Scar."

Marchand initially backed away from his grand jury testimony that he had seen Combs and Scar arguing before the shooting, but relented after Bogdanos reminded him of his earlier statements.

Marchand also testified said that his perception was clouded on the night of the shooting, after drinking "a couple of bottles of champagne."

The rapper, a close friend of Shyne, testified that he didn't see who fired that night, because he hit the floor as soon as he heard the shots. Earlier in the evening, he had hugged Combs, putting his arm around his waist, and felt no sign of a gun, he said.

Both Mahamah and Marchand testified that they saw money thrown in the air just before the shooting, but neither saw who threw it.

The shootings at Club New York began after Combs got into an argument with a man who elbowed him after the rapper knocked over the man's drink while leaving the club, the prosecutor said in his opening statement. After someone threw a stack of money in Combs' face, Shyne is alleged to have opened fire, wounding three bystanders. Combs and Shyne face weapons-possession charges, while Shyne faces additional charges of attempted murder, assault and reckless endangerment. (Click HERE for a complete explanation of the charges.)

Shyne's lawyer Murray Richman was set to cross-examine Mahamah in the afternoon.

Rap mogul Russell Simmons attended the morning hearing, in what he said was "a show of support."

"I've never seen with a gun in my life," Simmons said outside the courtroom. "It's a crazy idea that he'd be caught with a gun."

On Wednesday, Leonard Curtis Howard, a Combs security employee testified that he had never known Combs to carry a gun, adding, "If he is to carry a firearm, there is no purpose to me being around."