Sean “Diddy” Combs was tried for a shooting spree in New York in 2001 and was acquitted by the jury

The newly accused Sean “Diddy” Combs stood trial in New York City over 20 years ago for firing a gun in a Manhattan club – but he was acquitted by a jury at the time.

Combs, then 31, stood trial before a Manhattan Supreme Court jury for a shooting at Club New York on West 43rd Street on December 29, 1999, in which three clubbers were injured.

The music mogul was accused of firing a shot into the ceiling of the Midtown dance club and then trying to bribe his chauffeur, Wardel Fenderson, to take the blame for a second gun found in a getaway car he shared with then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez.

During his testimony, Combs told jurors that he fired the gun only in self-defense.

“I thought I was being shot at,” he said from the witness stand at the time.

Combs and his bodyguard Anthony “Wolf” Jones, who was also accused, were later found not guilty.

The jury deliberated for 22 hours before announcing the verdict on March 16, 2001.

If convicted on the main charges in the nightclub shooting, Combs could have faced up to 15 years in prison.

Meanwhile, young rapper Jamal “Shyne” Barrow – who was also involved in the ordeal – was found guilty of first-degree assault for shooting two bystanders.

Barrow escaped conviction for attempted murder.

Details of Combs' first brush with the law resurfaced after the controversial rapper and hip-hop mogul was charged with sex trafficking and organized crime on Tuesday, accusing him of abusing women for more than a decade.

The indictment accuses him, among other things, of carrying weapons to “intimidate and threaten” his victims and witnesses of the abuse.

When federal authorities raided his Miami and Los Angeles mansions about six months ago as part of a long-running sex trafficking investigation, they seized three AR-15s with “obliterated serial numbers,” as well as other weapons, ammunition and a drum magazine, the filing said.

Combs has long denied the allegations against him and his attorney said he would plead not guilty to the latest charges.

Additional reporting by Emily Crane