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Stabbing and shooting at hip-hop party, is anyone surprised?


mfiorellino

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3 knifed, 3 shot at rap bash

Why am I not shocked to hear this?

By VERONIKA BELENKAYA, JO PIAZZA and TONY SCLAFANI

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Hip-hop mogul Diddy's big bash to promote slain rapper Biggie Smalls' new album ended in bloodshed yesterday when three men were stabbed and three others were shot in midtown, police said.

Gunfire exploded inside a parking garage across the street from Manhattan's Club Exit, where Sean (Diddy) Combs hosted a party for his murdered pal's "Duets: The Final Chapter" album, which was released Tuesday.

Hearing the shots, nearby cops raced to the W. 56th St. garage at 3 a.m., finding three men bleeding as a Chevy Impala sped away, police said.

Clubgoers then dialed 911, telling cops that three men had been stabbed inside the club's VIP lounge. The most seriously injured was Philadelphia father of two Jonnell Williams, 36, who was knifed in the face and stomach.

"We were just standing there in the VIP lounge when some dude just came up to us and stabbed him ... and then slashed his throat," said Williams' shaken cousin, who asked not to be named.

Combs - who was cleared of gun charges after he and then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez fled a 1999 club shooting - spent 15 minutes with the club crowd but wasn't inside during the violence, sources said.

Williams' brother Keith Purnell, 42, said a thug furious over losing a flashy bracelet had knifed Williams. "It became a free-for-all," Purnell said. "He's lucky to be alive."

No arrests were made. Cops stopped the Impala seen leaving the scene with a bullet hole in its door and were questioning three men in the car.

Williams was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital, where he was in critical but stable condition last night.

Rayes Cruz, 25, and Walter Cogar, both of the Bronx, were slashed in the face. They were taken to Bellevue Hospital, where they were in stable condition.

The shooting victims - Jemayel Luckett, 22, of Newark; Thomas Riggs, 23, of Somerset, N.J., and Lauarr Hunter, 26, of Brooklyn - were in stable condition at St. Luke's Hospital.

A representative for Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment declined to comment.

Originally published on December 22, 2005

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