Diddy's former bodyguard claims The Notorious B.I.G. wasn't killed in a drive-by shooting: 'The car was probably there all night'
- Diddy's former bodyguard has claimed The Notorious B.I.G. wasn't killed in a drive-by shooting.
- FBI documents state the "Juicy" rapper was killed in a drive-by shooting on March 9, 1997.
Diddy's former bodyguard Eugene "Gene" Deal has claimed that The Notorious B.I.G. wasn't killed in a drive-by shooting and that his killer was instead waiting for him "all night."
The "Juicy" rapper, real name Christopher Wallace, was shot and killed in the early hours of March 9, 1997, in Los Angeles, California. He was 24 years old.
FBI documents state Wallace was traveling in the passenger seat of a Chevrolet Suburban after leaving a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum when a Chevy SS Impala pulled up to the vehicle at a red light and a gunman opened fire from within.
Wallace died less than an hour later at a local hospital. His autopsy, which was released to the public in 2012, states that he was shot four times.
To date, the murder remains unsolved.
In a video published by YouTube channel "The Art of Dialogue" on Tuesday, Deal, who said he was traveling in a second Chevrolet Suburban with Diddy, real name Sean Combs, behind Biggie on the night of the shooting, gave his own account of what happened.
"Wasn't no drive-by, the car was standing there at the corner," he said. "The stories they tell is not truthful. And now people are sitting here believing."
Deal added: "Every Biggie movie that you see, they say it's a drive-by. When the witness tells you the car was stood right there at the corner — the car was probably there all night."
Deal has previously said that he believes Wallace was not the intended target on the night he was killed.
Speaking with VladTV last year, Deal said he received intel earlier that day that people were out to kill Combs, who at the time went by Puff Daddy.
"I said to him, 'Puff, I've got some intel. The guys are coming to kill us tonight at the museum party,'" Deal recalled.
In a FBI investigation file obtained by The Sun in 2018, Deal made the same claim.
"Deal noticed an unknown black Male (UM) wearing a blue suit, white shirt, blue tie, receding hairline with hair cropped close, approach where Combs car had just arrived," said the document, according to The Sun.
"While Combs and others took pictures and mingled with the crowd, Deal Intercepted the UM as he tried to approach Combs' car.
"Deal pulled his gun out of his waistband and showed it to the UM as to be telling him to back away.
"Once this UM saw Deal's gun he walked away from Combs car heading eastbound on Fairfax Boulevard and got into a car that was parked on the corner exactly where Biggie was shot and, according to Deal, was most likely the car that committed the shooting."
According to The Sun, the document said that after intercepting the "UM," Deal then got into a car with Combs and told the driver to run the next red light — which is a standard security procedure to ensure the passengers don't become "sitting targets."
Combs' car ran the red light, but Wallace's car stopped.
"The shooter hesitated for quite a while before shooting into Biggie's car," the document said, according to The Sun. "Because of this, Deal strongly believes Biggie was not the intended target, but that Combs was."