Actress Jennifer Lopez was questioned by police but will not be prosecuted with her boyfriend, the rap star Sean "Puffy" Combs, who was arrested yesterday on a weapons charge after the two allegedly fled a night-club shootout, police said.
Three people were wounded in the early-morning shooting at Club New York on West 43rd Street in Manhattan, police said.
Lopez (29) and Combs (30) were taken into custody after a vehicle in which they and two other people were travelling allegedly sped away from the club.
In the shootout, a woman was shot in the face and was listed in stable condition in hospital. Two men were struck in the shoulder.
Police said they found a handgun in the vehicle and initially said Lopez, along with Combs, had been charged with criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of stolen property. Later, however, a police spokesman said the district attorney had decided not to prosecute her.
"Jennifer has been released. She's not been charged," Lopez's lawyer, Mr Larry Ruggiero, told reporters outside the police station where the two were questioned. She had "nothing to do with any shooting," he said.
Combs and two others in the car, Anthony Jones (34) and Wardel Fenderson (41) face weapons charges. Police believe the gun had been stolen.
None of the four occupants of the car were suspects in the night-club shootout, police said.
New York-born Combs, also known as "Puff Daddy" is one of the biggest names in hip hop. A talented rapper and businessman, he popularised the East Coast sound of rap along with Christopher Wallace, also known as "Notorious B.I.G." or "Biggie Smalls", who was killed in 1997 in a Los Angeles drive-by shooting.
One of Combs' biggest hits, I'll Be Missing You, was a tribute to Wallace. Combs also funds and oversees Daddy's Social House Programmes for inner-city youth.
In September, Combs, accused of assaulting a record company executive in a dispute over a music video, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree harassment. He was sentenced to participate in a one-day anger management programme.
Lopez made her breakthrough playing the lead role in 1997's Selena, a biographical movie about a murdered Tejano singer. It won Lopez a Golden Globe nomination as best actress of the year.
She has starred in several other movies, including Out of Sight with George Clooney. This year, she released a Latin pop album, On the 6, which won platinum dics status in two months.